Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 29 2008

A lightning rod for Turkey’s Alevi community

ISTANBUL – Modern times have called for a leader who would be
courageous and willing to speak up and Ä°zzettin DoÄ?an is
just such a person…

[He] is a committed Alevi and leader in his community and has in fact
the best known name among the Alevis today, nationally and
internationally. The Alevis are facing problems that only a government
can deal with and not just the present one but others in the past that
have promised help just to gain Alevi votes. Prof Ä°zzettin
DoÄ?an could be described as something of a lightning rod.

His comments and pronouncements as one of the leading dedes (elders)
of the Alevi community often attract support and criticism. But he
comes intellectually well-equipped to explain, argue, comment and
pronounce to and for his community.

In spite of white hair, DoÄ?an’s energy and activities make him
seem younger than his 68 years. Born in Malatya to parents who were
both from the families of Alevi dedes, he spent his formative years
there. He went on to study at Galatasaray Lycee, then abroad in
Switzerland and France and eventually obtained a doctorate in law. His
studies and thesis show a special interest in Turkey and its relations
with the European Union from a legal point of view. His experience
left him western oriented but at the same time he hasn’t wanted to
lose the values he has from Anatolia.

DoÄ?an’s continuing to work in academia Ä? he has taught
in universities in Istanbul – shows that he is disciplined, has a good
memory and enjoys reading and learning new things but not just
superficial things, he likes to go to the heart of matters. He also
likes and trusts the young people who are around him.

Where the Alevi community in Turkey belongs has become a bone of
contention since the end of the Ottoman Empire. The Alevis to some
extent agree with the Shiite branch of Islam that believes the
rightful heir of the Prophet Mohammed was Ali, the latter’s cousin and
son-in-law, and his heirs by blood. Hence their name is Alevi or the
follower of Ali, but they are not Shiites. Turkey on the other hand
throughout the Ottoman Empire was Sunni for the most parts and Sunnis
and Alevis believe that the leader of the Muslim community can be
chosen by that community.

Shiite Islam
The followers of Shiite Islam are mostly to be found in Iran and Iraq
and today constitute only about 15 percent of Muslims
altogether. Although the origin of the Alevis is none too clear, they
historically were mostly found in the eastern part of Turkey and
scattered throughout the many villages there. They likely came from
Central Asia in the 10th century. At some point, they mingled with the
mystic sect based on the teachings of Haci Bektasi Veli, a 13th
century mystic philosopher and humanist from Khorasan in northeastern
Iran. Haci Bektasi’s philosophy that was adopted by the Alevis had
three major points: love and respect for all people, tolerance for
other religions and ethnic groups and respect for working people.

When the Alevis began migrating west in search of work and a better
life, they brought their religious beliefs and practices with
them. But the Sunnis had trouble accepting that the Alevis were
Muslims since they followed practices that did not conform to what the
former believed. For instance the Alevis do not believe in fasting
during the month of Ramadan or going to a mosque to pray. They have
their own places of worship known as cemevis and their services
include singing and dancing. The Sunnis who are in the majority and
control the government refused and continue to refuse accepting the
cemevi as the equivalent of a mosque. There are other areas of
disagreement.

Modern times have called for a leader who would be courageous and
willing to speak up and Izzettin DoÄ?an is just such a
person. The dedes in the rural areas had been able to control of the
Alevi communities but this power dissipated as people migrated to the
large cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir and even immigrated to
other countries. Today their role is rather limited to social
activities, rituals and rites and the communal use of the cemevi.

But DoÄ?an is a committed Alevi and leader in his community and
has in fact the best known name among the Alevis today, nationally and
internationally. He writes letters and articles, gives interviews and
speaks at conferences and he has set up his own association, Cem Vakfi
or Cem Foundation. Established in 1995, it has a website and publishes
information on Alevi-ism and its beliefs, has links to its radio and
television stations and provides a host of other information about the
community.

DoÄ?an told the Daily News that he set it up as a means of
warning about the politicization of Islam. "If western democracies
continue with values that rely on intelligence and knowledge that will
neutralize political Islam, I believed that it was necessary that an
understanding of Alevi Islam had to be offered to the Turkish people
anew in order to secure its continuation."

DoÄ?an added, "Turkey has witnessed Alevi-ism slowly appearing
in the light of day. If you don’t provide people with an understanding
of Alevi Islam, the majority will suffer a very great loss and it will
be inescapable that Alevi-ism will become a problem of trust in
Turkey."

DoÄ?an is a staunch supporter of Atatürk and his
reforms. He in fact sees Atatürk as having set out to establish
the Turkish Republic on a new foundation. He explained, "Many people
are unaware that Ataturk wanted the new republic to rest on a new
cultural basis. He established the Turkish Language and History
Societies for this reason and for the first time in nearly 400 years
books related to Alevi-ism were published."

The Alevis are facing problems that only a government can deal with
and not just the present one but others in the past that have promised
help in order to gain Alevi votes. After all the Alevis are several
million strong. But once a political party was in power, its leaders
would renege on their promises. In the most recent general election,
DoÄ?an called on the Alevis to vote for whichever party seemed
to be the most helpful in addressing the Alevis’ problems.

Some of these problems are based on the fact that the government has a
government office called the Directorate for Religious Affairs. This
office considers the Alevis to be Sunni Muslims and therefore should
use mosques instead of cemevis as their places of worship. So it
permits the building of mosques in areas where the majority of the
people are Alevis while limiting the number of cemevis built. This
started in the 1980s and while it still happens, it is much less
frequent than before.

Another problem is the Directorate’s insistence on religious
instruction in school, that is Sunni Islam, on a compulsory basis. The
only children that are not required to attend these classes are those
of minority religions such as Christianity or Judaism. But the catch
has been that questions on the annual examinations for educational
advancement include some on Islam. They’re not compulsory questions
but the added points won from correct answers may mean the difference
between having enough to go on to university or not or winning the
university of one’s choice.

DoÄ?an and other Alevi leaders have their work cut out for
them. DoÄ?an has repeatedly called on the government to
eliminate the Directorate of Religious Affairs or include a section in
it for the Alevis. He is adamant about Alevis being Muslim.

He recently described those who said the opposite as "stark raving
ignoramuses." Such statements have attracted widespread publicity and
don’t sit well with the current government whose members tend to be
religiously conservative. In fact the Turkish government regardless of
which party is in power is trapped in a definition of minority
enshrined in the Lausanne Treaty that was signed in 1923 and allows
for only Orthodox Christians, Jews and Armenians. Alevis are Muslims
and so don’t qualify as a minority even if their practices are
different from those of Sunni Muslims.

There also is a tendency to equate Alevi-ism with being Kurdish,
although most Kurds are not Alevi, thus turning Alevis from a group of
people following the same beliefs into an ethnic group, in a way
politicizing them. One has only to look at the situation in Iraq with
two religiously based political groups, the Sunnis and the Shiites,
and one ethnic group, the Kurds who may or may not have Alevi
members. Just as the Sunnis and Shiites there cannot agree, the Alevis
and the Sunni Turks also cannot agree.

Is DoÄ?an something of a lightning rod? Yes, one could describe
him that way since he doesn’t mind saying provocative things. He
prefers what is concrete although he is open to reform and is bothered
when he thinks that he is faced by a fait d’accompli. And like a good
lawyer, he asks penetrating questions in order to get at the heart of
matters. Tolerance, peace, principles and uniting Alevis and Sunnis
help guide him on his way.

Certainly he faces criticism within his own community from time to
time. The Alevi groups that have formed in groups abroad are sometimes
critical of his actions as well. When DoÄ?an did not attend
anniversary services at the Madımak Hotel in Sivas, he met with
criticism. Thirty-three people, who were there to attend a memorial
service for Pir Sultan Abdal, died when the Madımak Hotel was
set on fire in 1993. Every year since then people have gone there to
lay flowers at the hotel but DoÄ?an didn’t go on this, the 15th
anniversary. Pir Sultan Abdal was a Turkish Alevi mystic poet who
lived in the 16th century until he was hung by Ottoman authorities.

Comparison between Nazım Hikmet and Fethullah Gülen
DoÄ?an also met with reaction in June this year when he
seemingly compared Fethullah Gülen’s stay in the U.S. that
began in 1998 to Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet’s going into exile
in 1950. Gülen himself is a controversial figure who preached a
philosophy of Islam that maintained Muslim faith based on the Qur’an
and added his belief in modern science, inter-faith dialogue and
multi-party democracy. People felt the comparison was inappropriate.

A recent march and meeting in Ankara that Alevi dedes called for met
with DoÄ?an’s disapproval and he didn’t attend. He disapproved
because he felt that the participants shouldn’t just be Alevis. Rather
people who were not Alevis but supported them ought to have been
called as well.

Some of the Alevi community decided in 2005 to battle for their rights
through the Turkish courts and legal system because the Turkish
constitution allowed for freedom of religion. If after the years of
court battles came to naught, then the community would appeal to the
European Court of Human Rights. They are still in the courts. Peace,
cooperation and a communal spirit and having to figuratively fight for
these seem rather like a contradiction in terms. But it has to be done
and DoÄ?an is determined to carry on.