Between trust and hope: the Justice and Development Party and the Alevis in Turkey

This article reviews the position of the Alevis in Turkey, a group of Turkish Muslims with a different set of beliefs to the Sunnis which make up the majority of Turks, and with particular regard to the stance of the JDP, the ruling party, vis-à-vis the secularism on which the Turkish state was founded. In drawing attention to the nature of the beliefs of Alevis, and the myths and misunderstandings which surround them, as well as the pogroms and massacres that have occurred within living memory, and which have combined to exclude them from mainstream society regardless of the party in government, the author highlights the fears of the community arising from the JDP being seen as the representative of Sunni Islam. This is particularly the case given the JDP’s own origins within the National Vision discourse and the policy stances which it has adopted while in government. The relationship might be dominated by mutual distrust, but the JDP, in remaining insensitive to the problems of Alevis, is endangering the persuasiveness of other democratisation efforts.