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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001993 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  AKP FLIRTS WITH ALEVI INITIATIVE 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 1103 
     ¶B. ANKARA 0073 
 
Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady, reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and comment:  Alevi leaders greeted with 
skepticism Turkish press accounts that the ruling Justice and 
Development Party (AKP) plans to create an office within the 
Ministry of Culture and Tourism to fund Alevi prayer houses 
(cemevis) and broaden Alevi rights.  They believe AKP is 
courting the approximately 10-15 million traditionally 
leftist Alevi voters but does not sincerely desire to meet 
Alevis' long-standing demands, including official recognition 
of cemevis and the right of individual students to opt out of 
mandatory religious courses.  AKP MP Reha Camuroglu, an 
independent-minded Alevi who resigned from the role of PM 
Erdogan's advisor on Alevis issues in June 2008 (ref A), told 
us the press reports are premature; Erdogan is still 
evaluating the political ramifications of a renewed Alevi 
initiative.  Camuroglu believes Erdogan must achieve concrete 
progress on both the Alevi and Kurdish issues prior to March 
2009 local elections, lest he face a defection of liberal AKP 
MPs and a significantly dimished independent vote. 
Considering the traditionally leftist Alevis' deep-rooted 
suspicion of AKP, a genuine Alevi outreach effort by Erdogan 
would be less an attempt to court Alevi voters than a bid to 
shore up his democratic bona fides in light of recent 
allegations that he has adopted a nationalistic, status-quo 
stance.  Although Alevi outreach would help AKP present 
itself as a party still committed to the democratic reform 
process, Erdogan is unlikely to pursue more than very modest 
change prior to elections, for fear of alienating AKP's 
conservative Sunni base.  End summary and comment. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Press Reports AKP Plans a New Alevi Initiative 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (U) Turkish press reported November 13-14 that AKP is 
preparing to revive its dormant Alevi initiative by creating 
a department with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism 
responsible for Alevi issues.  According to the reports, 
State Minister for Religious Affairs Said Yazicioglu and AKP 
MP Reha Camuroglu would oversee a program to allocate GOT 
funds to the Ministry for use in building and maintaining 
Alevi prayer houses (cemevis) and paying the salary of cemevi 
staff.  Assigning responsibility to the Culture Ministry 
reportedly would allow the government to circumvent legal 
provisions and judicial rulings that prohibit the Directorate 
of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) from funding cemevis due to 
their current status as illegal gathering places (tekkes) for 
religious orders (tarikats).  Camuroglu, an Alevi Erdogan 
brought into the party before the July 2007 parliamentary 
elections as part of his effort to broaden AKP's base, 
resigned his position in June 2008 as Erdogan's special 
advisor on Alevi issues over frustration at what he perceived 
as lack of GOT support (ref B). 
 
---------------------- 
AKP Alevi MP Skeptical 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Camuroglu told us November 17 that the press reports 
are premature.  PM Erdogan had called him several days ago to 
discuss the Alevi issue and had given "a yellow light" to 
restarting reforms.  Erdogan is considering all angles of the 
issue, including how negatively the many "extreme Sunni" AKP 
supporters would respond to an effort to solve the problems 
of Alevis after having failed to fulfill the party's promise 
to reverse the headscarf ban.  Camuroglu said he is skeptical 
following Yazicioglu's November 15 "classical center-right 
status quo" comment to the press that it would be difficult 
to grant Alevis new rights without also meeting the demands 
of other non-Sunni groups. 
 
¶4. (C) Camuroglu believes that nothing less than the future 
of AKP hinges on how PM Erdogan approaches the Alevi issue. 
He told us that following the Constitutional Court's ruling 
to not close AKP, the GOT failed to meet its "obligation" to 
re-commit to democratic reforms.  Many liberal AKP MPs and 
Turkish citizens had grown increasingly frustrated as Erdogan 
shelved reform efforts in favor of a combative, nationalistic 
 
ANKARA 00001993  002 OF 002 
 
 
stance, epitomized by his recent "love it or leave it" 
comment to Kurds in Diyarbakir.  Erdogan can retain such 
supporters only by achieving "concrete progress."  On the 
Alevi issue this means recognizing and funding cemevis.  The 
selection of Alevi candidates to run for AKP in local 
elections would also be key, Camuroglu noted.  If Erdogan 
does not act on these issues prior to elections Camuroglu 
said he will resign from the party.  He believes Kurdish MP's 
will similarly defect if Erdogan does not reverse his 
status-quo stance toward the Kurdish issue, and that AKP will 
lose independent, democratic-minded voters as well. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Alevi Groups Retain Suspicion of AKP 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (C) Hussein Gazi Association President Ali Yildirim told 
us the GOT's proposal was a thinly-veiled effort to attract 
votes in March 2009 local elections.  Yildirim believes 
Erdogan wants to tap into Turkey's approximately 10-15 
million Alevi voters, especially after he saw a recent Alevi 
rally in Ankara, which attracted 100,000 people.  The rally 
showed the traditionally heterogeneous group is improving its 
ability to organize.  Yildirim said AKP had completely failed 
to address any long-standing Alevis demands.  The GOT had 
refused to implement a European Court of Human Rights ruling 
requiring Turkey to abolish or allow Alevis to opt out of the 
mandatory religious education course in public schools, and 
had balked at granting official recognition and allocating 
resources for the construction and administration of cemevis. 
 The PM evidenced his "Sunni-centric" view when he declared 
in June 2008 that cemevis were not religious temples and 
therefore could not be granted state recognition. 
 
¶6. (C) Alevi-Bektasi Federation Secretary General Kazim Genc 
told us the GOT is approaching the Alevi issue in the same 
"Sunni-centric" manner that doomed its January 2008 Alevi 
Iftar to failure (ref B).  The GOT had failed to contact any 
of the 155 associations and 35 foundations under the 
Federation's umbrella in developing the new Alevi initiative 
described by the press.  Genc said relying on Camuroglu 
"destined the effort to failure" because "true Alevis believe 
Camuroglu is an opportunist more interested in self-promotion 
than improving the situation of Alevis."  According to Genc, 
Camuroglu had shown his hypocrisy by remaining an AKP MP 
despite having resigned his position as Alevi advisor after 
he had seen AKP's "real face."  Genc noted that putting Alevi 
issues under the Culture Ministry would subject Alevis to the 
control of a Sunni institution that maintains a tremendously 
distorted view of Alevism. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Academic Plans to Address Alevi Issues 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) One of Turkey's foremost Alevi experts, Middle East 
Technical University (METU) Professor Aykan Erdemir, told us 
the GOT is unlikely to follow through on its new plan because 
it remains a conservative party with no genuine interest in 
improving the plight of Alevis.  A sign of AKP's insincerity, 
in Erdemir's view, is the continuing GOT effort to build new 
mosques in poor Alevi villages where few to none practice 
Islam, instead of consulting the community about its needs. 
Erdemir said the infighting among AKP's three Alevi MP's 
would also impede progress.  Two of the three -- Hussein 
Tugcu, an AKP founding member, and Ibrahim Yigit -- who are 
known for converting Alevis to Sunnism or a more conservative 
form of Alevism, vehemently resent Camuroglu's taking the 
lead on Alevi issues.  The acrimony had helped kill AKP's 
first so-called Alevi initiative and would likely do so 
again.  Frustrated with Turkey's long-standing failure to 
address Alevi issues, Erdemir is working with several 
European scholars of Alevism to open an Alevi Studies 
Institute in Ankara in early 2009.  Erdemir told us the 
institute will promote equality and work to debunk pervasive 
myths about Alevis, such as the belief held even by many 
well-educated Turks that Alevis engage in incest. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
SILLIMAN