Document #1167445
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
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.