Published: January 05, 2009

Bookstore to Serve as Alevi Memorial

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The Turkish Ministry of Culture has decided to open a bookstore as a memorial at the entrance to the Madýmak Hotel in Bursa where 37 Alevi intellectuals were killed in 1993, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

On July 2, 1993 Islamic fundamentalists burned down the hotel located in central Turkey where the Alevis had gathered for a cultural festival taking place in the building.

In addition to the 37 Alevis the two people responsible for burning the hotel died either of burns or smoke inhalation. The killings marked the start of a 40-day period of violence that left some 100 Alevis dead.

Representatives of some Alevi organizations have accused the ruling Justice and Development party (AK) Party of vote fishing.

Turkey's Alevis are one of the least known minorities in the Middle East and North Africa, where they are thought to number between six and 12 million. They claim they face widespread prejudice and that the state refuses to grant them their religious and cultural rights.

The Alevis' main demands are the abolition of compulsory religious lessons, the recognition of their prayer houses as places of worship, the abolition of the Religious Affairs Directorate (RAD), and turning the Madimak Hotel into a museum.

According to the Alevis, religious classes, which focus on Sunni Islam, and the RAD, represent interference by the government in religious affairs and are therefore anti-constitutional.