Citizen Alevi in Turkey: Beyond Confirmation and Denial

Abstract

Critics of the current national citizenship models argue that, although it rests on claims to be inclusionary and universal, it can never eliminate exclusionary and particularistic practices when challenged by those identities excluded from the historical trajectory of "nation building." Turkish citizenship has been a form of anomalous amalgamation since its conception. On the one hand, the state insisted on the pre-emptive exclusion of religion and various communal cultural identities from politics, while, on other hand, it promoted a particular religious identity primarily as a means of promoting cultural and social solidarity among its citizens. Contemporary Alevi movements, representing the interests of a large minority in Turkey, provide a new source of energy for the revision of concepts of citizenship. Alevis have suffered from prejudice, and their culture has been arrested and excluded from the nation building process. They were not able to integrate into the form of national identity based on the "secular" principles that the republican state has provided as a means of promoting solidarity among citizens. What Alevis seek is a revised citizenship model in terms of a system of rights assuring the condition of neutrality among culturally diverse individuals.

Alevi “Openings” and Politicization of the “Alevi Issue” During the AKP Rule

“…19 Several other scholars support his point. 20 In defining "the Turkish version," Yavuz refers to the Kemalist model and places this in opposition to AKP's model of secularism, by claiming that AKP's secularism consists of "neither 'separation', nor 'control'." 21 Although Yavuz briefly criticizes AKP's Sunni-favoring policies and ignorance of Alevis, 22 he still claims "the AKP stresses a democratically negotiated secularism."…”

From the Morality of Living to the Morality of Dying: Hunger Strikes in Turkish Prisons

“…One such cultural orientation is the disposition to resist "oppression" (zulüm), especially the one that is wielded by the state. One of the roots of this particular orientation can be found in the Alevi religious community and faith, from which left ideologies in Turkey draw many ideas (Koçan & Ö ncü, 2004). The state does not accept Alevism as a separate religion, but rather includes it as part of Islam.…”

Security and citizenship in the global South: In/securing citizens in early republican Turkey (1923–1946)

“…50 The discriminatory practices experienced by those who became citizens of the Republic are also examined in rich micro-accounts on the Kurds, 51 the Alevi, 52 and the minorities as defined in the Treaty of Lausanne. 53 In what follows, we present an overview of the literature by grouping existing studies into two accounts: those who consider the citizenship regime of the Republic as a moment of security for all; and those see it as a process of insecuring of some.…”