CHP-Run Municipalities To Recognize Cemevis As Places Of Worship

A total of 230 municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) across Turkey are planning to grant cemevis, as Alevi houses of worship are called, the official status of places of worship.

“As of Feb. 1, the municipalities affiliated with the CHP across Turkey will start to work to officially recognize the cemevis as places of worship within the scope of Municipal Law No. 5393. In other words, we will do what the state [government] could not,” CHP Deputy Chairman Veli Ağbaba declared at a press conference in Parliament on Friday.

Ağbaba also stated that İstanbul's Maltepe Municipality, which is held by the CHP, has already taken the initiative in recent months by granting cemevis that are located within its boundaries the official status of places of worship.

The Maltepe City Council announced on Dec. 5 of last year that it officially recognized the cemevis within the borders of the municipality as places of worship and ruled that the municipality would cover their expenses. The decision was taken unanimously among the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and CHP members of the council, and passed despite opposition from Justice and Development Party (AK Party) members. The Maltepe Municipality and the Didim Municipality are the only municipalities in Turkey that currently recognize cemevis as places of worship.

“The government has been launching never-ending initiatives to resolve the longstanding problems [of the country's Alevi population]. Every single step that the government has taken so far has not ended up as we had hoped. Alevis hope to hear of some major steps forward, such as recognition of cemevis as an official place of worship. Nobody should dare to rejects cemevis as places of worship since millions of Alevis accept those places as such. It is not up to the government to decide whether they [cemevis] are places of worship. Only Alevi citizens can decide that,” Ağbaba stated.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has recently revitalized an Alevi initiative after a two-year period of inaction, when he paid a visit in November of last year to the predominantly Alevi town of Hacıbektaş in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir. However, the speech Davutoğlu gave at the event caused disappointment among Alevi citizens, as the prime minister failed to address demands such as granting legal status to cemevis and offering salaries to Alevi dedes (Alevi religious leaders). Moreover, initiative has remained in name only as the government has failed to take any concrete steps since then.

Currently the Religious Affairs Directorate neither allocates funds for Alevi activities nor pays the salaries of Alevi religious leaders as it does for mainstream Sunni Muslim groups. In effect, the directorate's budget is reserved for the Sunni community.

Speaking to the press, Fevzi Gümüş, the president of the Alevi-Bektashi Federation (ABF), and Cemal Özdamar, secretary general of the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association, in a joint statement praised the CHP for taking the initiative to grant cemevis official status. “Just like other citizens, Alevi citizens are also paying taxes to this state. Meeting the Alevi citizens' demands cannot be seen as favor. Any kind of discrimination must come to a halt. In this sense, granting cemevis legal status is a great step towards normalization,” Gümüş and Özdamar stated.

Emrullah Bayrak, Ankara (Cihan/Today's Zaman)