Milliyet carried out the comprehensive research with the help of social scientists. The results on Alevism led to a more heated debate than on any other identity. As is well known, Alevism is a religious motif. It takes its name from the Prophet Mohammed’s son-in-law, Ali. Alevism occupies a significant place in Anatolian culture and is a tradition that has survived to the present day, principally through stories and oral tradition. The principal tenets of Alevism include friendship, love and peace. There is no clear and accurate number on Turkish Alevis, and this occasionally creates debates about the Alevi population in Turkey. There are Alevi leaders who claim 25 to 30 million Alevis in the country. But this figure seems to be an exaggeration, especially since we haven’t witnessed any party that has approached the Alevi population and promised to support them if it wins the elections. The first Alevi party was founded in 1966, but it failed to receive a significant number of votes. Alevi organizations were infuriated by Milliyet’s research, and Turkey was forced to debate Alevism once again. The second development was the Abant Platform, recognized as Turkey’s most liberal and diverse conference. Since the first meeting in 1998, important Turkish intellectuals convene at Abant meetings to communicate their opinions. The meetings are usually two or three days long, and at the end of the meeting a memorandum is drafted and presented to the public. In the past, issues such as laicism, democracy and Islam, globalization, diversification, education, liberalism, the Middle East and the EU have been debated at the Abant Platform. Abant meetings have been held in important cities such as Washington, D.C., Paris, Brussels, Moscow and Cairo. The latest Abant meeting was held last week and the topic of debate was Alevism. There was nothing different in the meeting from those held in the past. There were intellectuals from different parts of society including Alevis, Sunnis, laicists, religious, democrats and liberals… As always it had a diverse and pluralist panel. While most intellectuals were happy with the fact that the panel consisted of people from all walks of life, a few Alevi intellectuals were very upset. Cumhuriyet newspaper, which occasionally publishes provocative articles about Alevism, criticized the Abant Platform because Sunnis dominated the debate.
However, Sunnis weren’t the only ones debating the topic. In fact, the most important Alevi intellectuals were present. The problem was groups, in particular Marxist groups, accustomed to playing politics by using Alevism as a tool, who were upset. For example before 1980, Turkey had been split into two. There were “rightists” on one side and “leftists” that supported socialism on the other. Almost all Alevis had supported the left, despite the fact that Alevism was born out of Islam, with no ties to socialism, or anarchism, for that mater.
Polarization between the left and the right led to Alevi-Sunni clashes. Take, for example, the 1979 Mara? incident. It was caused by clashes between Alevis and Sunnis and more than 100 people were killed, according to official reports. Other clashes were witnessed in Central Anatolian cities such as Çorum, Sivas and Yozgat and danger was widespread. Communities that had for centuries lived in peace and harmony had become enemies overnight. As Alevi-Sunni clashes erupted, Turkey’s culture of sharing became threatened.
Today, whenever Alevism is debated, some people, mainly Marxists and atheists, display a harsh reaction. In recent years these groups have created a different form of Alevi identity, an Alevism without Ali. In other words, they want to remove the traditions of Ali in Alevism that come from the Prophet Mohammed’s son-in-law. Alevis who practice the original Alevi tradition have been very disturbed by this ideology, which has absolutely nothing to do with the Alevi tradition.
To sum up, Alevism is an important tradition that is included on Turkey’s religious map. Alevis want to live in peace and harmony and they seek state help in this regard. They want to open houses of prayer, called cemevi, and the state should be willing to help them. The government must take steps to resolve Alevi problems, and the Sunnis in the country must support the government. Certainly, Marxist and atheist groups will be disturbed by such steps because they won’t be able to use Alevism as a political tool. For a Turkey that is heading towards transparency and democratization, abusing Alevi problems will not be as easy to do as in the past.
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