The Alevi Opening of the AKP Government in Turkey: Walking a Tightrope between Democracy and Identity

Abstract

In spite of the favorable climate created with the launch of the Alevi Initiative, which aimed at the settlement of the grievances held by the Alevi community, the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) government's over-cautious approach not to offend the Sunni-Hanefi segments of the electorate has cost them the trust of the Alevi community. Besides, the weak EU political conditionality and the embedded nature of the Sunni-Hanefi interpretation of Islam in both the state and society, not to mention in the legislation, have deterred the AKP government from achieving a fully fledged settlement to the Alevi issue.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding

I would like to extend my gratitude to the European Commission for the financial support for my research provided under Prince 2009-EU27 Enlargement Grant.

Note on Contributor

Mehmet Bardakçı is Assistant Professor in political science and international relations at Yeni Yüzyıl University, Istanbul. He has a BA in international relations from Bilkent University in 1994 and a PhD in political science from Duisburg-Essen University in 2007. His work spans Euroscepticism, EU impact on Turkish politics, democratization, minority rights, and civil–military relations. Forthcoming work includes Religious Minorities in Turkey: The Struggle to Desecuritize Religious Freedom (co-authored with Annette Freyberg-Inan, Olaf Leisse and Christoph Giesel), and Growing Together, Growing Apart: Turkey and the European Union Today (co-edited with Olaf Leisse and Annette Freyberg-Inan). Both of them will appear in Palgrave.

Notes

1. For more details on the similarities and differences between the Turkish Alevi and the Syrian Alewite, see Aringberg-Laanatza, “Alevis in Turkey – Alewites in Syria,” 151–65.

2. Koçan and Öncü, “Citizen Alevi in Turkey,” 472.

3. Massicard, Türkiye'den Avrupa'ya Alevi Hareketinin Siyasallaşması, 63.

4. Dressler, “Religio-Secular Metamorphoses,” 286.

5. Information obtained through an interview with an Alevi NGO representative in Istanbul, 22 December 2011.

6. Van Bruinessen, “Kurds, Turks and the Alevi revival in Turkey.”

7. Erman and Göker, “Alevi Politics in Contemporary Turkey,” 100.

8. Van Bruinessen, “Kurds, Turks and the Alevi revival in Turkey.”

9. Çarkoğlu and Bilgili, “A Precarious Relationship,” 357.

10. Erman and Göker, “Alevi Politics in Contemporary Turkey,” 110.

11. Bilici, “The Function of Alevi-Bektashi Theology in Modern Turkey,” 52.

12. “Alevilik Nedir?” [What is Alevism?], http://www.cemvakfi.org.tr.

13. Cem Vafkı 5. “Uluslararası İnanç Önderleri Toplantısı kitapçığı.”

14. Soner and Toktaş, “Alevis and Alevism in the Changing Context of Turkish Politics,” 427.

15. “Başbakan: Ben daha Aleviyim [The prime minister: I am more Alevi],” Radikal, October 8, 2004.

16. “Aleviler için üç aşamalı reform [A three-stage reform for the Alevi],” Milliyet, November 24, 2007.

17. “Tartışmalı Alevi iftarı gerçekleşti [Controversial Alevi fast-breaking dinner took place],” January 11, 2008. Accessed February 5, 2014. http://www.cnnturk.com/2008/turkiye/01/11/tartismali.alevi.iftari.gerceklesti/418305.0/index.html.

18. Öktem, “Being Muslim at the Margins.”

19. Özyürek, “The Light of the Alevi Fire Was Lit in Germany,” 246.

20. “AKP'de Alevi sıkıntısı [The Alevi discomfort in the AKP],” Milliyet, June 13, 2008.

21. AK Parti Tüzüğü, article 4.

22. “Ne derdiniz var dinle, dersle? [What problem do you have with religion and religious classes?],” Milliyet, October 11, 2010.

23. Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey, 169.

24. Avci, “The Justice and Development Party and the EU,” 419.

25. Keyman, “Modernization, Globalization and Democratization in Turkey,” 325.

26. “Son Alevi çalıştayı buruk başladı [The last Alevi workshop began unpleasantly],” Radikal, January 29, 2010.

27. Alevi Çalıştayları Nihai Rapor [The Final Report on the Alevi Workshops], T.C. Devlet Bakanlığı, Ankara, 2010.

28. Ulusoy, “The ‘Europeanization’ of the Religious Cleavage in Turkey,” 306.

29. “Hükümet Vatikan değil [The government is not Vatican],” Radikal, April 1, 2011. For detailed critique of the final report, see Aleviler Artık Burada Oturmuyor.

30. Hasan and Eylem Zengin v. Turkey, Application No. 1448/04, Judgement of October 19, 2007.

31. Betül Kotan, “Hükümet AİHM'yi duymazdan geldi [The government turned a deaf ear to the ECtHR],” Radikal, October 11, 2007.

32. “AİHM: Din hanesi insan hakları ihlali [The ECtHR: the existence of religious category in IDs is a violation of human rights],” Milliyet, February 3, 2010.

33. Oral Çalışlar, “Cemevlerinin statüsü kritik alan [Status of cem houses is a critical area],” Radikal, April 1, 2011.

34. İsmet Berkan, “Din ve Vicdan Özgürlüğü Çıkmazı [Deadlock on freedom of conscience and religion],” Radikal, December 4, 2007.

35. “Cemevi camiye alternatif olamaz [Cem house can not be an alternative to mosque],” Radikal, April 10, 2008.

36. “Bozdağ’dan Alevilik Tartışması Yorumu: Cahillik [Bozdağ’s comment on Alevism: ignorance],” Radikal, July 10, 2010.

37. Yıldırım Türker, “Madımak Helalleşmesi [Coming to Terms over Madımak],” Radikal, July 4, 2011.

38. Oral Çalışlar, “Cemevlerinin Statüsü kritik alan [Status of cem houses is a critical area],” Radikal, April 1, 2011.

39. Interview with Ruşen Çakır, Vatan Daily, Istanbul, October 7, 2013.

40. Subaşı, “The Alevi Opening: Concept, Strategy and Process,” 165–78.

41. Interview with Ruşen Çakır, Vatan Daily, Istanbul, October 7, 2013.

42. “Sivas katliamına göz göre göre zamanaşımı [A blatant case of lapse of time in the Sivas massacre],” March 13, 2012. Accessed April 13, 2013. http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25328616/.

43. “Erdoğan'dan çok tartışılacak Sivas davası yorumu [A very controversial Sivas trial comment from Erdoğan],” Hürriyet, March 13, 2012.

44. “Alevilerden ortak bildiri [Joint declaration from the Alevi].” Accessed September 5, 2013. http://www.cemvakfi.org.tr/tum-haberler/alevilerden-ortak-bildiri/.

45. “Erdoğan: ‘Kişi arkadaşının dinindendir, bunu unutmayın’ [Erdoğan: ‘Do not forget; a person belongs to his friend's religion’],” March 21, 2012. Accessed June 30, 2013. http://www.beyazgazete.com/haber/2012/3/21/erdogan-kisi-arkadasinin-dinindendir-bunu-unutmayin-1101602.html; “Çelik'ten Kılıçdaroğlu'na ‘mezhep’ suçlaması [‘Sect’ accusation by Çelik about Kılıçdaroğlu],” Radikal, September 8, 2011.

46. Özbudun, “AKP at the Crossroads,” 3.

47. “Gezi Parkı Bilançosu: 4 ölü 60’ı ağır 7832 yaralı [Gezi Park balance sheet: four dead, 7,832 injured, 60 of them heavily],” Hürriyet, June 21, 2013.

48. Eyüp Can, “Zor Sorular [Though questions],” Radikal, September 12, 2013.

49. Interview with Yüksel Taşkın, Marmara University, September 18, 2013.

50. Taşkın, “Hegemonizing Conservative Democracy and the Problems of Democratization in Turkey,” 295.

51. Aktürk, “Persistence of the Islamic Millet as an Ottoman Legacy,” 893–09.