Turkey's Alevis seek a better deal

se times

04/01/2011
Practicing an unconventional form of Islam puts Turkey's Alevis at odds with the country's dominant Sunni population.
By Justin Vela for Southeast European Times in Istanbul -- 04/01/11

Speaking to SETimes at a cemevi or Alevi community centre that he runs in Istanbul's Kagithane district, Alevi dede (priest) Zeynal Sahan said, "The way the Sunnis interpret the Koran is structural. The way we interpret it is deeper."
Claiming to follow the form of Islam practiced by members of the Prophet Mohammed's household before others "abducted" the religion, Sahan said Alevis faced violent discrimination under the Ottoman Empire that continued after the founding the of the Turkish Republic.
The Alevi form of Islam teaches equality between the sexes, allows for alcohol consumption, and claims that God is within everyone. ...more...

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