Senate examines equality between Alevis and Christian churches: Berlin wants to officially recognize Alevi community as a religious community – Berlin
In Berlin, the Alevi community is about to be recognized as a public corporation. This emerges from a letter from the Senate Culture Administration, which is available to the Tagesspiegel. In January, the Alevi Congregation of Germany submitted a corresponding application for Berlin.
One sees “a strong indication of a subsequent recognition”; State Secretary Gerry Woop wrote a few days ago to Pascal Meiser, member of the Bundestag (both left), that the Alevi community had promised to provide the necessary documents by the end of the year. The Senate processed the process with “great benevolence”.
In December 2020, the Alevis received the status of a public corporation for the first time in North Rhine-Westphalia. In this way, their congregation is put on an equal footing with the churches. The status brings with it rights and obligations: Religious communities receive tax privileges and a say in public bodies and must, among other things, be reliably organized for this. With its internal constitution and number of members, the Alevi Congregation offers a guarantee of stability, according to the ordinance of the NRW government. There is no doubt about their compliance with the law.
In Berlin, the Alevis would be the first religious community to come from the broad spectrum of Islam and to become a recognized body. However, government agencies support the mosque association Ditib, which is also close to the Turkish government. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the state government and Ditib had an agreement in 2020 on future recognition as a closed body.
The MP Meiser welcomes the fact that Berlin Alevis are about to be recognized by the state: “As long as religious communities are granted state privileges, this must apply to all religious communities without discrimination, as long as these fundamental values of our constitution do not question.” – Country chief Raed Saleh was visited. Around 4500 Berliners belong to the community, 70,000 Alevis live in the city.
Danger from Turkish right-wing extremist gray wolves
The Alevis, who are critical of authority, are rejected by many Sunni Muslims. In Turkey, where most of the Alevis die worldwide, the right-wing extremist Gray Wolves and the Turkish ruling party MHP publicly attacked the recognition of the community by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
[Ob Wohnen, Verkehr, Sicherheit oder Gesundheit: Alles, was Sie zur Berlinwahl am 26. September wissen müssen, finden Sie jetzt auf der interaktiven Wahlseite des Tagesspiegel.]
The Sivas massacre has not yet been fully clarified. In 1993 an Islamist mob killed more than 30 Alevis in Sivas, Anatolia. One of the convicted murderers evaded custody and lives in Berlin.
The Green interior expert Benedikt Lux desirable 2019 criminal complaint with the Advocate General. The prosecution of the man was “not promising” under criminal law, said the authorities, said Lux: “It is all the more important to organize a worthy memorial for the Sivas massacre in Berlin.”