The Alevi Opening: Concept, Strategy and Process

The Alevis, with their varied discourses, are in the midst of a deep intra-comunial debate as to how they will sustain their historical identity, institutional structure and rituals. This study analyzes the problems of Alevis that are mainly shaped along the processes of rapid modernization and social transformation. It also explains the parameters of the ongoing 'Alevi Opening' with a focus on the logic and outcomes of the Alevi workshop series. These workshops that brought together the government and the representatives of the Alevi community can be viewed as an effort to learn, understand, and deliberate problems of Alevi citizens. In this framework, the Alevis were brought together to conceptualize and formulate their arguments and ideas into a coherent discourse. The Alevi workshops are therefore an attempt to ease the acceptance of Alevism by all sections of the society and to accelerate the realization of a profound process of empathy