“Alevi”. Captioned with this simple word, Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s video on Twitter has generated some 30 million views since April 19. Facing the camera, the presidential candidate in Turkey, who is at the top of the polls, claims to belong to the belief of Alevism. “I think it’s time to discuss a very specific, very sensitive subject with you,” begins the main opponent of current President Erdogan. “I am Alevi, I am a sincere Muslim”.
These remarks had the effect of a bomb, at the height of the taboo that this community represents in Turkey. Religion for some, Muslim heresy for others, philosophy or sect for still others, the Alevis are nonetheless the largest religious minority in the country, with around 10 to 15% of the population.
While claiming an original tradition of Islam, more particularly of the Shiites of Iran through the veneration of Ali (son-in-law of the prophet), Alevism is a syncretic religion with multiple inspirations. The Alevis keep for example from the Christian religion the idea of a trinity, namely “Allah-Mohammed-Ali”. They also consider sacred the books of the old and new testament, as well as apocryphal writings, while drawing some of their rites from Anatolian and Central Asian religiosities. Formed far from urban centers where a literate Islam is taught, this popular religion belongs more to the Sufi traditions, with a liberal or even progressive tendency.
From a religious schism, Alevism has become a way of life. “The term sect is not appropriate in number and extent. But it is a particular and very communal way of life, which stands out from the rest of the Turks, analyzes Samim Akgönül, historian and political scientist, interviewed by Le Figaro. They don’t have mosques, nor veiled women, they eat pork, and they intermarry a lot. Mixed unions among secularized Sunnis are much higher than among secularized Alevis”.
In Türkiye, however, Alevism has no status. He is not even among the officially recognized minorities. During the long period of the Ottoman Empire, the Alevi, considered the fifth column of Iranian Shiism, were persecuted by the central power. This pushes them to get closer to Atatürk when he made Turkey a secular republic in 1923. Especially since they have always advocated the separation between spiritual and temporal power.
But in the Turkey of Mustapha Kemal, being a Sunni Muslim is a constituent of national integrity. In 1937 and 1938, the government suppressed a rebellion in the Dersim region, killing between 70,000 and 90,000 Alevi Kurds. It is precisely from this region that Kemal Kilicdaroglu comes from. His “aleviness” was therefore strongly anticipated, but to assume it publicly is unprecedented on the part of a candidate.
Why such a taboo? “Because among the most conservative Sunni Muslims, this religion is pure heresy, explains Samim Akgönül, teacher-researcher at the University of Strasbourg and at the CNRS. Without being at the stage of homosexuality or the Armenian genocide, the subject remains sensitive”. Even today, some Sunni conservatives may refuse to eat a dish cooked by an Alevi, considering it “impure”.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, for his part, accused Kemal Kilicdaroglu of wanting to “victimize” himself by this claim. With less than a month to go, is this an act of sincerity or a political calculation? “Turkey has never known an Alevi in power, in any case never claiming to be such. Today is perhaps the time to break a taboo”, suggests Marc Aslan, head of diplomacy at the Federation of the Union of Alevi of France (Fuaf), speaking of a “hope” for the community.
On social networks, the comments were rather positive, many emphasizing the “courage” of the candidate, “but it is still difficult to assess the impact of this admission on the presidential campaign”, affirms the political scientist Samim Akgönül. Especially since within the Alevi community itself, positions diverge on the position vis-à-vis the state and the Sunni majority. Some want Alevism to be recognized and integrated into the administration of religious affairs, for the cem evi to be considered as places of worship in the same way as the mosques, the dede and the baba, Alevi dignitaries, are remunerated by the state like the imams. Others prefer strict separation to maintain their independence. “Because who says state money says state control,” says Samim Akgönül.
For the researcher, the confession of Kemal Kilicdaroglu rather resembles a desire to “puncture the abscess” of a subject which obscures the real debates. In early April, the candidate became the subject of controversy after a photo emerged showing him standing on a prayer mat, in shoes – a disrespect for Sunnis. “Turkey has long revolved around issues of identity, between Kurds, Sunni Alevis, secular conservatives… getting over this divide in society would allow for more serious questions about inflation, foreign policy, for example membership from Sweden to NATO”, recalls Samim Akgönül. “Kilicdaroglu probably wanted us to move on.”
It remains to be seen how the conservative Sunnis will react. “Besides, here is his precise sentence: I am Alevi, I was raised in the faith of Muhammad and Ali as a sincere Muslim,” notes the political scientist. “This last clarification is significant, it is addressed to all the rest of the Muslims from whom he does not want to be rejected”.