Government Organising an "Alevi Workshop"

Ali Balkız, president of the Alevi Bektashi Federation (ABF), has announced that members will participate in the Alevi Workshop planned by the government in order to suggest solutions.

Speaking to bianet, Balkız said that the federation represented "95 percent of organised Alevis".

Members of the federation and the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association (PSAKD), the Alevi Culture Association and the Hubyar Sultan Culture Association will take part in meetings organised in Ankara for tomorrow and the day after (3 and 4 June).

Balkız welcomed the opportunity for dialogue, but also warned that Alevis would not accept any token gestures.

Following an "equal citizenship" rally by Alevis on 9 November 2008, the government met with the Cem Foundation, which according to Balkız had denounced the rally, three times. Balkız says, "Now they have opened a file on rapprochement with Alevis. This is not possible without meeting with us."

The workshop will be attended by State Minister Faruk Çelik and will be held at the Bilkent Hotel in Ankara. According to the Milliyet newspaper, the Cem Foundation, the Dünya Ehl-i-Beyt Foundation, the Federation of Alevi Associations as well as Alevi elders (dede) will attend.

PSAKD president Fevzi Gümüş said in an announcement today (2 June) that Alevis were most concerned with the continuing existence of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and compulsory religious education classes in schools, two issues which academics have also denounced as violating the principle of a laicist state.

In a separate statement, the ABF also listed its concerns. It also called for the abolition of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and compulsory religious education classes, as well as legal status for the cem evleri, the Alevi places of worship, for a conversion of the Madimak hotel in Sivas, where 37 intellectuals were killed in an arson attack, into a museum. The ABF also called for an end to the building of mosques (which Alevis do not use) in Alevi villages, and for a return of Alevi -Bektashi lodges to their rightful owners. (TK/AG)