Information regarding the response from the police and judicial system to complaints of religious violence or harassment filed by Alevis in Istanbul and other parts of Turkey and as to whether there is any difference in the situation of Alevis in Istanbul and other parts of Turkey is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to the Economist, 33 arsonists responsible for setting the 1993 hotel fire, in which 37 Alevi including cultural and community leaders died, were sentenced to death in late 1997 (25 Apr. 1998; AFP 2 July 1998). Although the Economist article indicates that government support for the Alevi's is growing, in part as a response to radical Sunni Islamists, animosity between the Alevi and conservative Sunni populations has grown (ibid.). In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a professor of Turkish and Kurdish Studies at the University of Utrecht stated that most Alevis continue to question the partiality of the police and of the judicial system (13 Apr. 1999).

The professor also stated that the situation for Alevis in Istanbul is generally difficult owing to the fact most Alevis live in districts known to be both Alevi and Kurdish, thus making them targets of both Islamist and nationalist harassment. The professor stated that outside Istanbul, for example in Sivas province, the situation was also difficult in that the Alevi village population lived in close proximity to towns composed of predominantly conservative Sunni adherents (ibid.). According to the World Directory of Minorities:

In part it is the migrant drift of Alevis from mountainous or unproductive land to seek work in predominantly Sunni towns which has been a major catalyst in Sunni-Alevi tensions (1997, 380).

A March 1999 report by the Press Agency Ozgurluk indicates that mass arrests were made at the time of demonstrations commemorating the March 1995 killings in the Gazi district of Istanbul, in which 17 Alevi were killed (31 Mar. 1999). However, corroborating reports could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. In March 1998, according to two sources, commemorative demonstrations were held; however, the reports make no reference to the reaction of security forces and police (AFP 12 Mar. 1998; AP 12 Mar. 1998). According to the professor of Turkish and Kurdish Studies, the situation for Alevis in Istanbul and other areas of Turkey remains tense (13 Apr. 1999).

However, there are also reports that both the secularist government (ibid.; TRT TV 13 Aug. 1998) and the Islamist opposition (Hurriyet 14 Mar. 1999; Nokta 25-31 Oct. 1998) are courting the Alevi as political allies.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Response.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 2 July 1998. "10,000 Left-wing Turks Remember Massacre by Fundamentalists." (NEXIS)

_____. 12 March 1998. "10,000 March in Istanbul to Commemorate Clashes." (NEXIS)

Associated Press (AP). 12 March 1998. "10,000 People March to Commemorate Deadly Clashes in Turkey." (NEXIS)

The Economist. 25 April 1998. "Turkey, Two Islams Clash." (NEXIS)

Hurriyet (Internet version). [Istanbul, in Turkish]. 14 March 1999. "FP Leaders Attend Alevi Congress in Turkey." (FBIS-WEU-1999-0314 14 Mar. 1999/WNC)

Nokta [Istanbul, in Turkish]. 25-31 October 1998. "Turkish Alevis-Islamic Parties Links Seen." (FBIS-WEU-98-348 14 Dec. 1998/WNC)

Ozgurluk Press Agency. 31 March 1999. "Turkey: Commemoration of the March 12 Massacre in 1995 in Gazi/Istanbul." [Internet] http://www.ozgurluk.org/press/msg00395.html [Accessed 13 Apr. 1999]

Professor of Turkish and Kurdish Studies, University of Utrecht. 13 April 1999. Telephone interview.

TRT TV [Ankara, in Turkish]. 13 August 1998. "Minister Says Secularism Guarantee of Peace Among Faiths, Sects." (BBC Summary 15 Aug. 1998/NEXIS)

World Directory of Minorities. 1997. Harlow, Essex: Longman Group UK.

Additional Sources Consulted

Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 1997-1999.

Middle East Report. 1997-1999.

Middle East International. 1997-1999.

Resource Centre Amnesty International file on Turkey. 1997-1999.

Resource Centre Country file on Turkey. 1997-1999.

Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, NEXIS/LEXIS, REFWORLD, WNC.