Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

78 islamic political identity in turkeyAfter the 1993 Sivas incident, Alevis became more assertive and increasinglyhave stressed that they are a separate ethnoreligious group vis-à-vis thestate. Television and radio popularize this feeling and now provide a new networkto mobilize the Alevi community as was never before possible. For example,when a group of unknown gunmen opened Wre on Alevi teahouses, killing twoand wounding three people in the Gazi neighborhood of Istanbul on March 12,1995, the volatile and tenuous relationship between the state and the Alevi communitywas ruptured. The police were slow to react, and a rumor spread aroundthe neighborhood that the local police station also might have been involved inthe attack. This rumor, combined with a previous event in which an Alevi detaineehad been killed at the same police station, galvanized the Alevi community,which mobilized in opposition to the state. As was reported on radio andtelevision channels, Alevis from all over Istanbul poured into the neighborhood.As the television cameras and journalists moved to the area to cover the story,the demonstrators further hardened their rhetoric and actions. They subsequentlyencircled the police station and demanded justice. When a group ofarmed demonstrators started to Wre at the police, the police reacted. The clashended with 22 deaths, mostly Alevis. Alevism then became a symbol of the denialof justice and rights by the state. The 1990s was a period of “coming out”for a potential Alevi identity, as is evident in journals, conferences, and associations.The Sivas and Gazi incidents, along with the rising Sunni-Islamic movement,became a catalyst for the articulation of Alevi political identity. Betweenthe years 1993–2002, the Alevis also managed to express their political demandsas a religious group and make eVective use of opportunity spaces. With thehelp of the new Alevi bourgeoisie, Alevi intellectuals utilized new opportunityspaces in the media, market, and education to articulate an autonomous Aleviidentity. The transformation in the Alevi community and the (re)forming ofan autonomous Alevi identity took place through associational life, that is, theestablishment of village or town-based cultural associations. These associationsconsolidated themselves and entered into the public sphere by establishing theirown magazines or radio stations. The Alevi intellectuals utilized these associationsand their magazines as opportunity spaces to reconstruct an Alevi identitythat is print-based and in tune with the global discourses of human rights. Theattempts at becoming a print-based theology led to contradictory reinterpretationsof the oral Alevi tradition as a “secular belief system outside Islam,”“realIslam,” “Turkish Islam,” “Kurdish Islam,” or “a way of life.” 66 The politics ofAlevi identity have been produced and consolidated in these associations. Theyare not only centers of gathering and discussion but also socializing places whereskills in public relations and politics are acquired. They prepare for the conversionof a heavily rural population to an urban mode of life through training andestablishing connections. At the same time, the weakening position of the mainAlevi religious functionary, known as the dede, also promoted communal fragmentation,and the Alevi community was further divided into ethnic Turkishand Kurdish groups. Kurdish nationalism, for instance, facilitated the formationof a separate Zaza ethnolinguistic identity. As a result of opportunity spaces,