US embassy cable - 03ISTANBUL1410

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001410 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: WHOSE ISLAM? AK PARTI AND ISTANBUL ALEVIS 
 
 
Classified By: CG David L. Arnett for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: Alevis, followers of a heterodox 
religious-cultural offshoot of Shi'a Islam and Anatolian 
Sufism, probably number about 10 percent of Turkey's 
population (7 million, with several million in Istanbul), 
although some Alevis assert that there are 25 million. 
Persecuted by the Ottomans and historically secularist since 
the founding of the Turkish Republic, Alevis have 
historically voted left, especially for CHP.  Though Alevi 
leaders distanced themselves from CHP in the November 2002 
elections, no affinity for AK Parti has taken its place. 
Recent comments by PM Erdogan have been seen by Istanbul 
Alevis as confirming their suspicions of AK's lack of 
sympathy for their beliefs.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
The Alevi place in Turkish politics 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
2. (U) No reliable figures exist for the number of Alevis in 
Turkey.  In a country of 70 million people, Alevi leaders 
frequently claim that 1/4 to 1/3 of the population are Alevi. 
 We think a more accurate estimate is 10 percent of the 
population, or seven million.  Alevi houses of worship, 
called Cem Evis, are scattered throughout Istanbul, filled 
with Alevis who previously lived in central Anatolia.  Alevis 
from the same village often congregate at the same Cem Evi 
and live in the same neighborhood. 
 
 
3. (U) Alevis were periodically and viciously persecuted by 
the authorities for their "heretical" religious views during 
the Ottoman imperial era.  When Ataturk emerged as a 
political force in Central Anatolia in the early 1920s, 
Alevis were some of his earliest and fiercest supporters 
because they saw him as willing to suppress the Sunni 
majority.  Support for CHP, the party founded by Ataturk, 
continued to be strong until the November 2002 parliamentary 
elections.  Several Alevi leaders, among them Prof. Izzettin 
Dogan (President of the Cem Foundation), said publicly that 
CHP had done very little for Alevis over the years, and that 
Alevis should feel no special need to vote for them. 
According to Prof. Dogan, most Alevis elected not to vote 
rather than shift their support to another party. 
 
 
4. (U) Although a Kemalist form of secularism has been 
ensconced in all republican constitutions as a founding 
principal of the Turkish state, the government controls and 
funds Sunni Islam through the Diyanet.  Christians and Jews 
are guaranteed some protection for their religious practices 
and facilities, but Alevis and their places of worship are 
not. 
 
 
Religion, culture, or both? 
--------------------------- 
 
 
5. (C) On September 4, during a trip to Germany, PM Erdogan 
discussed the status of Cem Evis in Turkey, saying: "...you 
cannot compare Cem Evis to mosques.  One is a place of 
worship, whereas the other is only a house of culture.  We 
cannot provide the help for Cem Evis that we do for mosques." 
 In a September 12 conversation with Poloff, AK Parti 
Istanbul Vice Chairman Murat Yalcintas (son of AK heavyweight 
and MP Nevzat Yalcintas) confirmed AK's position that Alevi 
houses of worship do not rate protection and funding similar 
to mosques.  Yalcintas said that the Prime Minister's 
comments were widely supported within AK Parti ranks. 
Yalcintas was critical of Alevi and Shi'a beliefs, saying 
"these people claim to be the followers of Ali and the family 
of the Prophet.  If they honor Ali, they should pray like Ali 
did, and go to a mosque."  In his view, a Cem Evi could only 
claim status as a religious house of worship if Alevis 
disavowed being Muslims. 
 
 
7. (C) In a September 5 meeting with Poloff, board members of 
the Haci Bektas-i Foundation (one of the two largest Alevi 
organizations in Turkey, representing the committed left wing 
of Alevidom) said they viewed PM Erdogan's comments as being 
"both a true reflection of his beliefs and, unfortunately, a 
legally correct statement," in that there is no legal status 
or funding for Cem Evis in existing Turkish law.  The board 
members pointed out that they often have difficulty in 
obtaining permission for building facilities, and get no 
government funding from the Diyanet.  Moreover, they 
complained, Diyanet funds are applied to building mosques, 
including in wholly-Alevi villages.  Alevi tax dollars are 
thus being used to convert Alevis to Sunni Islam. 
 
 
8. (C) Muharrem Eren, President of the Karacaahmet Sultan 
organization (a local, well-established, independent Alevi 
organization based in the conservative Uskudar neighborhood 
that claims over 5000 active members) told poloff that he and 
his followers do not expect the AK government to address 
their concerns.  Eren claimed that when PM Erdogan was 
Istanbul Mayor he had tried to "destroy" their organization, 
at one point actually sending a demolition team in an effort 
to dismantle their Cem Evi in the middle of the night.  Eren 
emphasized the widely-held Alevi view that the preservation 
of their religion and culture depends on strict enforcement 
of Ataturk's secular principles and that his political 
sympathies continue to lie with the CHP. 
 
 
Disadvantaged Alevis? 
--------------------- 
 
 
9. (C) Alevis have long charged that they are excluded from 
positions of leadership in Turkish society, and assert that 
high military, governmental, or judicial positions are not 
open to them.  On the other hand, mainstream Sunni Muslim 
contacts claim that Alevis are disproportionately represented 
in high military, bureaucratic, and business circles; 
Islamist PM Erbakan played on this view when he had prominent 
members of his 1996-7 government warn against the 
"Syrianization" (i.e. secularization) of Turkey.  Prof. Dogan 
told us, however, that he was troubled by recent complaints 
from members of his community that Alevis who are civil 
servants have been pressured to attend Sunni religious 
services.  Reportedly, people he believes to be AK Parti 
functionaries have come to government ministries, asking 
office directors to regularly pray and attend services at a 
mosque.  According to Dogan, in some few cases, Alevis have 
been pressured into resigning. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
10. (C) The views expressed by Dogan, Haci Bektas-i board 
members, and Karacaahmet Sultan do not reflect the full 
spectrum of the Istanbul Alevi community, but together they 
claim to represent the concerns and aspirations of more than 
a million Istanbul residents.  The latest reaction over PM 
Erdogan's statement illustrates a considerable divide between 
AK and Turkey's Alevi community.  Some AK supporters, while 
supportive of religious freedom in general (especially when 
it relates to Sunni Islamic religious expression), regard 
Alevis as heretics; others consider Alevis to be Sunnis at 
heart (they have common circumcision and burial rites), 
wayward Sunnis, or merely a cultural group.  This latter view 
is given weight by the Alevi's use of alcohol, avoidance of 
fasting during Ramazan, and hanging of pictures of Ataturk 
alongside those of Ali in their Cem Evis.  End comment. 
ARNETT