Turkey's Bektas Community Oppose “Sovereign State Bektashi”

The president of Turkey's Alevi Bektasian Federation, Zeynel Abidin Koc, has told Turkish media that Bektas are only 5% of the Albanian population and that the philosophy of alevi-bektash, of 72 nations, considers them one, and advises all to be sovereign in their actions.

Alevi Bektasian has indicated that they will never approve of the creation of a religious state.

As the Alevi we live in Turkey, we continue our stand in favour of secularism. Bektasism is a belief system originally from however, approximately 115 thousand Bektasians live in Albania. This covers 5 percent of Albania's population. We never test a trust-based state”, Turkey's Alevi Bektasian Federation chairman Zeynel Abidin Koc said.

The same opinion I share with him is Ali Balkız, former head of the Alevi Bektasian Federation and author.

“Bektasian Alevi Trust has lived on these lands for centuries. Later, it spread to the Balkans with the Ottoman Empire and reached as far as Hungary. Albania is one of those countries. Bektasian Alevi philosophy holds 72 nations together. The religious state is not right. Every state has authority, but there is freedom in faith alevi Bektashi” said Ali Balkız.

Huseyin Guzelgul, chairman of the Alevi Bektasian Federation, stated that the various steps taken by states on the basis of accepting confidence Alevi Bektas in the world consider generally positive and share the belief that Bektas and the religious state cannot co-exist. Güzelgül said, “We do not see a religion-based state as right. This cannot happen where there is tolerance, peace, and love”.