Turkish Court Upholds Alevis' Right To Create Houses of Worship

Today's Zaman on Wednesday reported on a trial court decision in Turkey that vindicates the right of Alevis to maintain their own houses of worship (cemevi). In 2004, Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate took the position that "it is not possible to consider cemevis and other [such] places as places of worship because Alevism, which is a sub-group of Islam, cannot have a place of worship other than mosques or mescit that are common places of worship within Islam." Relying on this, the Interior Ministry asked the Çankaya Cemevi Building Association to remove references to cemevis as places of worship from its bylaws. The Association refused and the Ankara Prosecutor's Office moved to shut down the Association. The Ankara 16th Court of First Instance rejected the government's petition, writing:

Alevi cemevis or cem houses have been socially known and accepted as places of worship for centuries. The provision that cemevis are places of worship, which was included in the association’s bylaws, is not in conflict with Article 2 of the Turkish Constitution and there is not a law that prohibits this in the Turkish Constitution.