Turkey: Halkin Demokrasi Parti (HADEP); whether it draws support from Alevi or whether its supporters are predominantly Sunni
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 27 September 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | TUR35415.E |
| Reference | 4 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Turkey: Halkin Demokrasi Parti (HADEP); whether it draws support from Alevi or whether its supporters are predominantly Sunni, 27 September 2000, TUR35415.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4beb21c.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information specifying the religious affiliation of Halkin Demokrasi Parti (HADEP) supporters is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. The HADEP mayor of Diyarbakir is cited in a 4 May 2000 Mideast Mirror article as stating that:
"In the past it was well nigh impossible to bring together Alawite [Alevi] and Sunnite clerics. Now, though, our party includes Alawites, Sunnites, and atheists, all taking part in debates together."
The official position of HADEP regarding "Religion and Conscious Freedom" is set out in a document titled "Year 2000: Perspectives of HADEP" that appears on the party's Website:
The freedom of belief includes and protects either to be able to have or not to have any religious belief. The prominent example of unfair legal and code intervention with freedoms of belief is compulsory religion courses in the education. Compulsory religious courses are contrary to the freedom of belief and religion. In a democratic, laic and respectful–to-human rights order, the state is not in any manner entitled to or has the right to obligatory teach religion to the others. Further the Chair of Religious Affairs, as the primary channel of the state in religious extension and teaching should be abolished (27 Jan. 2000).
There is an indication that HADEP is on good terms with Islamist parties in Turkey. HADEP reportedly "gave" its votes in the 1995 elections to the (Sunni) Welfare Party having failed to reach 10 per cent threshold required for representation in Parliament, (MEDEA May 1999).
A number of articles that discuss the voting patterns and allegiances of Alevis provide information regarding this issue. A paper on Alevis on the Website of the European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Cooperation (MEDEA) states:
Alevis have long voted for the left-wing CHP party, in power at the time of the Maras massacre, then turned away from it. The Kurdish separatist PKK (mainly made up of Sunnis) tried to attract to its movement Kurdish members of the Alevi community but failed because the religious identity of Alevi Kurds stands well above their ethnic identity, coupled with the fact that Alevi Kurds and Alevi Turks are united in their wish to integrate the Turkish State and society.
It was the Islamist Refah party which then addressed the Alevi community as a whole to suggest a Sunni-Alevi electoral pact: Alevis could be listed among Refah candidates and be elected at the 1994 local elections. However, that did not fill the Alevi community with enthusiasm as it had little liking for the conservative values of the Refah party. Other Alevis went on the lists of the HaDeP legal Kurdish party.
Given the violent riots shaking the Alevi neighbourhood of Gazi, in the suburbs of Istanbul (where many Alevis had voted for the Refah and HaDeP parties) in March 1995 and the rise to power of the Refah party after the 1995 legislative elections, most politicians understood they had an interest in putting an end to the pariah status of the Alevis and taking over their electoral voices. Thus, in October 1997, the President of the Turkish Republic, Süleiman Demirel and the Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz paid an official tribute to the Alevi community during the annual Hacibektas festivities. Yilmaz went as far as declaring that the province of Hadjibektas could become the home of the Alevi movement in Anatolia, the Balkans and the Caucasus (Feb. 1998).
An article that appeared in the December 1999 issue of the Middle East Review of International Affairs emphasizes the Alevis' apprehensions regarding Sunni fundamentalism:
In today's political arena Alevis see themselves as a counterforce to Sunni fundamentalism, ensuring the continued secularism of Turkey. Alevis, who have a great interest in blocking the rising fundamentalist influence, are the main allies of the secularist forces, and are also searching for alliances with moderate Sunnis against the extremists. They are demanding that the state recognize Alevism as an official Islamic community equal to, but different from, Sunnism.
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.
References
European Institute for Research on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab Cooperation (MEDEA). May 1999. "Turkey: Political Parties."
_____. February 1998. "Alevis."
Halkin Demokrasi Parti (HADEP). 27 January 2000. "Year 2000: Perspectives of HADEP."
Mideast Mirror [London]. 4 May 2000. "New Setback for Turkey's Kurds." (NEXIS)
Middle East Review of International Affairs [Ramat Gan, Israel]. December 1999. David Zeidan. "The Alevi of Anatolia."
