A cami and cemevi together


Date posted: September 11, 2013

TUĞBA AYDIN

A groundbreaking ceremony for the first cultural complex in Turkey that will have both a cami (mosque) and a cemevi (Alevi place of worship) was held in Ankara on Sunday with the participation of Labor Minister Faruk Çelik, Alevi CEM Foundation President İzzettin Doğan, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ankara deputy Sinan Aygün and a number of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies as well as other Alevi and Sunni community leaders and members of the public.

The project, which is the first of its kind in modern Turkish history, is expected to be completed in a year and opened in the Islamic month of Muharrem, a holy month to Alevis. Columnists discussed the necessity of a cultural center of this type that can build strong bridges between the two communities.

Radikal columnist Eyüp Can wrote that the rights of Alevis have been violated for many years. He criticized some Alevis who felt the culture center intended to assimilate them and so opposed the project. Can’s response is that no signs of an attempt at assimilation can be found when one analyzes every aspect the project. According to Can, the project will contribute a great deal to the creation of equality between Sunni and Alevi people in the country and that five more cultural centers that will house both a cami and a cemevi are planned for the near future. There is a contradiction in some Alevi circles, according to Can; though they struggled for many years to have more facilities, they are not satisfied with this large project.

The Bugün daily’s Ahmet Taşgetiren thinks the project is an effective step toward smoothing relationships between Sunni and Alevi people. With a strong relationship and as a more integrated country, Turkey may be better able to overcome many difficulties. However, he noted that the project has also upset some groups that are trying to cause tension by provoking people along Sunni-Alevi lines.

Milliyet’s Güneri Cıvaoğlu feels that the project is a very meaningful step, led by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and CEM Foundation President Doğan, during a period when there are severe conflicts between Sunnis and Alevis in some countries, such as Syria. The project will also be beneficial for Turkish-EU relations, he believes.

Source: Today's Zaman , September 10, 2013

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Islamic scholar Gülen calls for ‘reasonability’ in prep school row

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called on the government to act “reasonably” in its plan to close test prep schools, adding that they were the ones receiving a “slap,” in a veiled reference to a statement from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. You have to defend it without making concessions in the language you use,” Gülen said in an apparent message to members of the “Hizmet” [Service] movement.

Interview with Kimse Yok Mu Foundation’s President Ismail Cingoz

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation (KYM) President Ismail Cingoz spoke on Turkey’s helping hand extending to the world: “We involve approximately 10 thousand volunteers in our efforts. We have 97 thousand families that we have been consistently providing aid for. We are active in 103 countries regardless of their ethnicity, language, faith or color.” We talked […]

Those not supporting Erdogan regime labelled as Gulen follower, given harsh punishment

M Behzad Fatmi, a Turkish political expert and commentator, has said that Ankara’s crackdown on Gullen followers amounts to “social and economic genocide” and asserted that the self-exiled scholar had no connection in the coup d’etat aimed at overthrowing the Erdogan regime.

Turkish police to plant Gülen’s books in ISIL cells, journalist claims

In the latest of an ever-growing demonization of Fethullah Gülen at the hands of Turkish government, police are set to deliberately put his books in ISIL cells in a bid to reveal an alleged connection between the cleric and the terrorist organization, according to a Turkish journalist.

The Hizmet movement and external forces

Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi and the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) make statements on behalf of the Hizmet movement. Even the GYV’s statements can hardly be considered as binding for every individual who is inspired by the Hizmet movement and who participates in different projects in a different manner as the Hizmet movement does not have a central organization or membership mechanism.

Gülen has strongly rejected comparison to Iran’s Khomeini time and again

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ’s recently rehashed allegations that Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen planned to return from the US to Turkey in a way similar to Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini are decades-old discredited claims that have been refuted time and again by Gülen himself in his published statements.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Jailed journalist Ayşenur Parıldak given courage award by Norwegian rights group

Le Monde: Ankara offered Senegalese government $7.5 million to transfer Yavuz Selim educational group to Maarif

Cingöz: Kimse Yok Mu welcomes all auditors from state institutions

Turkish business suffers under Erdogan’s post-coup Gulen purge

Opposition asks for parliamentary session on MİT wiretapping

Joint mosque-cemevi project will contribute to peace in Turkey

Should the Hizmet movement form a political party?

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News