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Last year's Alevi rally in Sıhhiye Square in Ankara attracted 100,000 people.
Alevis plan huge rights rally in Istanbul
Thursday, September 24, 2009
BEHZAT MİSER
ANKARA – Radikal
Alevi groups plan to hold a massive rally in Istanbul in November to protest against the fact that religious education is still compulsory and that the Madımak Hotel, site of the Sivas massacre, is still not a museum
Alevi groups have decided to hold a massive rally in Istanbul on Nov. 8 because their rights and demands have not been addressed, according to leaders of the community.
Alevis, a liberal Muslim sect, have previously called for the elimination of compulsory religious-education classes, recognition of Alevi houses of worship, or cemevis, abolishment of the Religious Affairs Directorate and the transformation of the Madımak Hotel in Sivas, where 33 Alevi intellectuals were killed by a fundamentalist mob, into a museum.
Ali Kenanoğlu, deputy leader of the Alevi Bektaşi Federation and the head of the Hubnar Sultan Alevi Culture Association, said the rally in Istanbul would aim to attract up to a million people.
The Sunni dominance in the country is reflected by the fact that only mosques are recognized as Islamic houses of worship, while cemevis survive on local donations. The opposition to compulsory religious-education classes at high schools stems from the fact that until last year, the Alevi community was ignored in the curriculum. Last year, the Education Ministry included some passages about the community in textbooks but failed to placate Alevis.
Kenanoğlu said last year’s first-ever rally in Ankara’s Sıhhiye Square, which drew 100,000 demonstrators, has raised some eyebrows and forced the government to focus on problems faced by Alevis.
He also said the workshops organized by the government to resolve the Alevi community’s problems have failed to inspire confidence, because people who had no links to Alevis or Alevi organizations were introduced as experts.
“We want to turn our demands into a mass movement and create public awareness about Alevi issues,” he said, adding that the rally would attract a million people.
Pir Sultan Abdal Association President Fevzi Gümüş also said the government’s Alevi workshops had led nowhere, adding that the lack of any advancement on Alevi grievances left them with the sole option of holding a rally.
He said the government’s initiatives on Kurds, Alevis and Armenians may appear as positive developments, but noted that the country is still governed by the constitution drafted following the 1980 military coup.
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Last year's Alevi rally in Sıhhiye Square in Ankara attracted 100,000 people.
Alevis plan huge rights rally in Istanbul
Thursday, September 24, 2009
BEHZAT MİSER
ANKARA – Radikal
Alevi groups plan to hold a massive rally in Istanbul in November to protest against the fact that religious education is still compulsory and that the Madımak Hotel, site of the Sivas massacre, is still not a museum
Alevi groups have decided to hold a massive rally in Istanbul on Nov. 8 because their rights and demands have not been addressed, according to leaders of the community.
Alevis, a liberal Muslim sect, have previously called for the elimination of compulsory religious-education classes, recognition of Alevi houses of worship, or cemevis, abolishment of the Religious Affairs Directorate and the transformation of the Madımak Hotel in Sivas, where 33 Alevi intellectuals were killed by a fundamentalist mob, into a museum.
Ali Kenanoğlu, deputy leader of the Alevi Bektaşi Federation and the head of the Hubnar Sultan Alevi Culture Association, said the rally in Istanbul would aim to attract up to a million people.
The Sunni dominance in the country is reflected by the fact that only mosques are recognized as Islamic houses of worship, while cemevis survive on local donations. The opposition to compulsory religious-education classes at high schools stems from the fact that until last year, the Alevi community was ignored in the curriculum. Last year, the Education Ministry included some passages about the community in textbooks but failed to placate Alevis.
Kenanoğlu said last year’s first-ever rally in Ankara’s Sıhhiye Square, which drew 100,000 demonstrators, has raised some eyebrows and forced the government to focus on problems faced by Alevis.
He also said the workshops organized by the government to resolve the Alevi community’s problems have failed to inspire confidence, because people who had no links to Alevis or Alevi organizations were introduced as experts.
“We want to turn our demands into a mass movement and create public awareness about Alevi issues,” he said, adding that the rally would attract a million people.
Pir Sultan Abdal Association President Fevzi Gümüş also said the government’s Alevi workshops had led nowhere, adding that the lack of any advancement on Alevi grievances left them with the sole option of holding a rally.
He said the government’s initiatives on Kurds, Alevis and Armenians may appear as positive developments, but noted that the country is still governed by the constitution drafted following the 1980 military coup.
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