Turkish culture

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu met with representatives of the Alevi communities in Istanbul late March 21, after which many of the representatives stated they did not expect concrete solutions to their problems before the upcoming elections in June.

A group of women?s rights activists and a belly dancer have engaged in a heated argument on ?the exploitation of a woman?s body? in southern Turkey.

Some 80 members of the Women?s Advisory Center and Support Association in Antalya participated in an International Woman?s Day event organized at a hotel in the Konyaalt? district late on March 10.

Municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People?s Party (CHP) have started recognizing cemevis as places of worship, while also pledging to meet the needs of cemevis, or Alevi houses of worship.

A Turkish court has ruled that the owner of a hamam, Turkish bath, in Istanbul is to pay 3,000 Turkish Liras for discriminating against a transgender woman by denying her entry.

While guilds in the Ottoman Empire might never have had the same independence as their European counterparts, they still had an important role and also shared many characteristics with Sufi organizations The guild in Ottoman times can be defined as an association of craftsmen and tradesmen who dealt with the same products and who banded together for their mutual benefit.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan argues that the American continent was discovered by Muslim sailors some 300 years before Christopher Columbus – and that Muslims had even built a mosque atop a hill near the Cuban shore.

Two recent court rulings, one from Turkey and one from Europe, have strengthened the Alevis’ case for cemevis, which the state refuses to recognize as houses of worship, but the main source of injustice against them is still the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet).

Two recent court rulings, one from Turkey and one from Europe, have strengthened the Alevis’ case for cemevis, which the state refuses to recognize as houses of worship, but the main source of injustice against them is still the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet).

As Turkey’s public policies regarding cemevis, Alevi places of worship, have been labeled as discriminatory by the top European court on human rights, a Turkish court has made a landmark decision, stating that the determination on whether cemevis are places of worship or not cannot be made by the judiciary.

Turkey's public policies regarding cemevis, Alevi houses of worship, discriminate against the Alevi community, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has stated in a landmark ruling.