Inquisition is good. El Greco and Galilei had get it off lightly. Modern university is a place of bullshit. Long live Gen. Evren, long live Prof. Dogramaci!

Dear Mustafa,

Some Sunnis resent interference in their faith by the State, and some Alevis resent the State "neglecting" them. Now that the government starts focusing on their issues, some old Alevi holy men start excommunicating people for cooperating? Can't make everyone happy I guess. I liked that you touched on the "liberal" stereotype people have of the Alevi political community. I always associated them with leftist movements, but definitely not in the liberal sense. All I can say is I disapprove of any separatist or self-segregating behavior by any community.

It's also interesting to note that Tunceli, which is the only province in Turkey with an Alevi majority, has been a breeding ground for leftist and Kurdish terrorism.

All very interesting. I am glad Kerim has pointed out a link between leftist and Kurdish terrorism and Alevis (rather than Alevism of course). I do think you should explore this theme further Mustafa because it is indeed neglected due to the ‘liberal’ and ‘tolerant’ reputation of our Alevi brothers.

I do not want to bash Alevism. I accept it as a branch of Islam which is ‘unorthodox’ as you put it Mustafa. I advise other readers to also read Todays Zaman’s column by Bulent kenes entitled ‘Alevism without Islam and Ali, and the boycotted Iftar’. It can be found at: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/yazarDetay.do?haberno=131592
I must say though that some Alevis have distanced their faith from its roots, used Alevism as a rallying force for political purposes, sometimes violent. It is like when AlQaida use the name of Islam to rally disenchanted youths and turn them into killers.

Kurdish separatist groups have used Alevism to recruit and gain sympathy from Kurds. We must first aknowledge that a vast amount, if not a majority of Alevis are Kurds. The reverse is not true. Secondly, the states unfavourable position towards Alevism and the Kurdish Identity has enabled these extremist groups to do so.

As Mustafa pointed out, Alevi communities have not made much of a show of themselves in the past in Turkey. It is hard to discern exactly what they represent and even what they believe. I therefore suggest that an overview of the Kurdish diaspora, in particularly that of London which I am familiar with. They have not been quiet all these years, quite the opposite.

As adolescents in London, most could not tell the difference between Kurds and Turks until they saw our necklaces. Indeed, many of us liked to reflect our identities to others and eachother with two specific ornaments. As Turks we would wear a ‘AyYildiz’ (moon and star) pendant, whereas many Kurds wore a ‘Sword of Ali’ pendant. This is still done by many to this day. Everything was clear, how could it not be when people wear ID badges round their neck?

It was evident that there were many Kurds in London from the Turkish Kurdish diaspora with british-born children too. It was evident that they did not want to be confused for Turks despite many of them only speaking Turkish. In order to create a physical distinction, between two peoples where it is not always obvious, Kurds used an Alevi Symbol. The same Kurds who wear the ‘Sword of Ali’ could and can be found at the pro-PKK rallies. Many of them own shops which explicitly show support and help fund Kurdish separatist violence. I cannot recall having been to an Alevi families house in London which did not have a picture of Abdullah Ocalan on their wall. To some Turks in London, especially the Turkish Cypriots, Alevis have become synonymous to Kurds and our surprised when you tell them of Turkish Alevis. When my Kurdish affiliations, with whom I avoided talking politics, told me that they were not Muslim as they were Alevi, I did not question it. It was another way of separation. ‘Turks are Muslims, Kurds are Alevis’ they would say. I used to think but what about the Kurdish Muslims. I later realised that the Muslim identity was not favourable to Kurdish separatism. Kurdish Muslims in London are less vocal and tend to enjoy ‘Turkishness’ as part of their identity too. They do apparently seem to be a minority in London's Turkish Kurdish diaspora.

I am not even going to attempt to explain all of this. It needs a real study. Just wanted to point of a few experiences and facts that I thought were of interest.

Up to now, many things have been written and certain theories suggested about the genesis and roots of Alevism by the Orientalists, foreign missionaries, travelers, and local and foreign researchers. While some of them argued that “the Alevi groups in Anatolia are the remainders of Christian elements”, others claimed that “Alevism is a destructive movement originating in the Persian civilization which aims at undermining Islam”, and yet others suggested that “Alevism is the essence of Islam.” At times, Alevism became victim to ideological conflicts. Attempts were made to explain it in connection to left-right, Turk-Kurd or Alevi-Sunni divisions. In sum, everybody interpreted the topic subjectively. Unfortunately, it is still possible to encounter such emotional assessments and impositions that are far from the seriousness of a scientific approach.

Especially towards the end of 1980s, there was almost an explosion in the number of publications about Alevism. But this publication explosion proved to be no more than transient, because a number of researchers, ignorant of the scientific method, and without even feeling a need to review the existing literature, contributed to the confusion surrounding the topic. In the end a variety of definitions of Alevism mushroomed: “it is a sect, a religion, an order, a path, a way of life etc.” As a natural result of the failure of the universities and government institutions to develop a sound approach to the subject, it remained vulnerable to manipulations. These manipulations are still going on, including even by those who claim to serve the Alevis. Hence the need for scholarly research as the only way to block such manipulations is increasing day by day.

In studying Anatolian Alevism, one has to consider the following point which has been firmly established by scholars; without grasping this point, one can not understand Alevism in Anatolia, and whatever is built on this misguided basis will be far from being scholarly and full of misconceptions. Alevism can only be understood within the larger context of the various religious and cultural movements that the Turkish masses encountered first in their fatherland and later in Asia Minor, i.e. Anatolia, as well as on the way from the former to the latter during the prolonged process of their migration. That means it is historically and sociologically invalid to search for the roots of Alevism-Bektashism exclusively in the events that gave rise to the Sunni-Shi’i split. We believe this is the conclusion reached today by local and foreign studies. This religious and cultural syncretism, which is the result of contacts throughout centuries and in different geographies between Turkish masses, and other groups with different beliefs and cultures, is the only key for an understanding of Alevism.5

If we have to define it concisely, we can say that Anatolian Alevism is a heterodox understanding of Islam resulting from this syncretism. Considering the historical and sociological circumstances, it is natural that this heterodox understanding of Islam has been a folk Islam that is based on oral tradition, within which old beliefs and myths survive under an Islamic cover.

There are still Alevis who hide their true identities for fear of retaliation in the workplace, in their neighborhoods, and at school.

one last to note ...one should note that there is Turkish Alevi's and also Kurdish Alevi's, when one is approaching such issue they should first distinguish the difference between the Kurdish Alevi's and also Turkish Alevi's, careful consideration should be given to such topic in the future.