A retrospective reading of the journal Yurtseverler Birliği published in Berlin from 1982 to 1989

The decade that transformed Alevism

Datos Bibliográficos

ID14858159
AutoresBesim Can Zirh (0000-0003-3506-6096, Middle East Technical University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Páginas1-18
Fecha de publicación2026-04-13
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Perspectives on Turkey (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0896-6346 • E-ISSN: 1305-3299
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/npt.2026.10083
OpenAlexW7154150037
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas21

This article aims to demonstrate that the “Alevi Revival,” commonly described as the sudden increase in visibility of Alevis in Turkey in the early 1990s, was actually the result of a decade-long transformation experienced by Alevis in Europe since the late 1970s. This historical contextualization is not entirely novel but is typically only framed in reference to certain milestone events. The present article substantiates this approach based on an analysis of nine issues of Yurtseverler Birliği , one of the earliest Alevi political journals, published from 1982 to 1989 in Berlin and not yet studied. The evolving discourse surrounding Alevism in this journal’s issues provides the earliest substantial evidence for understanding the emergence and evolution of strategies employed to promote the visibility of Alevism from the 1980s to the 1990s. By the end of this period, the strategy of “making Alevism known” had become dominant in defining Alevism in Europe, in contrast to heterogeneous approaches to framing Alevism in Turkey. In this sense, the “Alevi Manifesto,” an open letter published in 1990 in Turkey, and the first Alevi Culture Week, organized a year before in Germany, should be regarded as outcomes of the preexisting context rather than the Revival’s initiation

Context (archaeology) · Contextualization · Framing (construction) · Milestone · Visibility · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Religion, Theology, and Education · Turkey's Politics and Society

Herramientas

Abrir DOIOpen Access