The Media Line 09.10.2008-The Alevis' main demands are the abolishment of compulsory religious lessons, the recognition of their praying houses as places of worship, the abolishment of the Religious Affairs Directorate (RAD), and turning the Madimak Hotel, where 37 Alevis were killed in 1993, into a museum.

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

The Alevis' desire to turn the Madimak Hotel in the city of Siyas into a museum is connected to a massacre that took place in July 1993, when several Alevi intellectuals were killed there by an angry mob.

"We expect everyone to support us; this is a duty of humanity," said Ali Balkiz, chairman of the Alevi Bektasi Federation, which represents dozens of Alevi associations.

The Alevis of Turkey are one of the least known minorities in the Middle East.

One of the reasons for this is a problem in defining where they belong. While they are ethnic Arabs and are often classified as Muslims, they are sometimes referred to as Sunnis, other times as Shi'ites, and there are even some groups that don't regard them as Muslims at all.

In addition, since they are a minority in Turkey, a Sunni-dominated country, the Alevis practice the Shi'ite tradition of Taqiyya, meaning concealment of fate, i.e., appearing to be Sunni in order to avoid persecution.

In general, the Alevis are becoming increasingly homogeneous as a group, and are beginning to identify themselves as of a single faith and confessional practice, Dr. Aykan Erdemir of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, told The Media Line (TML) in a recent interview.

"There is concern on the part of most Alevis that they see the ongoing developments [the rise of the Islamic-rooted ruling party] as a step back or away from secular, republican principles. Moreover, as Alevis go out into the public more, they tend to experience new, heightened levels of discrimination and persecution in the public sphere, so that is another concern for them," explained Erdemir.