Despite the harsh reaction of the Alevis, the building of the Department of Alevi-Bektash Culture and Prayer Places (jemevi), established by decree of President Edogan, has been opened in Ankara. Alevis were against this decision from the beginning, and now I continue to oppose it, stating that whoever  enters this building will be a traitor to the Alevi community.

This measure was taken without the agreement of the Alevi community and organizations, which forced them to take to the streets in many cities and fight against this establishment. According to them, the Alevi-Bektash Culture and Jamev department was established by the decision of the political-Islamist Justice and Development party, whose members were appointed as the governing body without any representatives of the Alevi community. They do not accept Alevism as a religion and Jameev as a place of worship. This approach aims at assimilation and political exploitation and forces the Alevis to obey the laws of Islam.

The Alevi community and organizations demand the immediate closure of this facility and say, “NO to the nationalization of religion, NO to Islamist political impositions, YES to freedom of belief, which is based on democracy, protection of universal human rights.”

For years, the government of Western Armenia has maintained close relations with the Alevi-Arevis living in their native territory, who are very conscious of their ethnicity to the Armenian people, and it is not possible to conduct a policy of ethnic assimilation towards them. The Turkish authorities have been aware of this since 1936, and have been organized since the Dersim massacres, and with this move they have once again proved their impotence and defeat in the field of ethnic policy. The government of Western Armenia is constantly following the problems of the indigenous people living on its own land and is raising this issue at the UN through the President of the Republic of Western Armenia Armenag Aprahamian and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lydia Margossian. This issue will be discussed at the next session of the UN Commission on Indigenous Peoples.