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DER WEG DER ALEVITEN (BEKTASCHITEN): MENSCHENLIEBER, TOLERANZ, FRIEDEN UND FREUNDSCHAFT. By ALI DURAN GULCICEK. Cologne, Ethnographica Anatolica, 1996. 229 pp. 15DM.
Thirty years ago Turkish Alevis had scant recognition inside Turkey and even less outside. Sadly, since then they have been brought to world attention as the victims of barbaric attacks at Kahramanmaras (1978), Sivas (1993) and Istanbul (1995). Thirty years ago, thanks to the combined effects of Ataturk's secularising measures and their own traditional secrecy, Alevis were often regarded even by many urban Turks with a mixture of curiosity and incomprehension and there were few reliable books to relieve the general ignorance. That situation has now changed. In recent years there has been a torrent of Turkish books about Alevis and Bektashis, most of them from within the communities, covering almost all aspects of their beliefs, practices, organization and political inclinations.
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