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Seyit Rıza Monument (Dersim)
The Seyit Rıza Monument is a significant site of memory that renders visible, both symbolically and spatially, the place of the 1937–38 Dersim Massacre within...
Genocide
Genocide is a concept applied to different event contexts for various reasons and perspectives (legal, moral, analytical, activist). At its centre is the intentional destruction...
Tree worship: Sacred Trees and Wishing Trees
Tree worship refers to the veneration of trees, groups of trees, and sacred groves. They can be regarded as the embodiment of mythological beings themselves,...
Forced Migration of Alevis
This entry examines the phenomenon of forced migration experienced by Alevi communities from the foundation of the Republic of Turkey to the present, within the...
Kurdish Alevis (Postscript to a TAVO Article [1989] - Revisited)
This entry revisits some of the observations made during anthropological fieldwork in the 1970s in Mazgirt/Dersim and published in TAVO (Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients)...
Remembered and Contemporary Humor Narratives in Dersim
This entry explores remembered and contemporary humor narratives in Dersim, a predominantly Kurdish Alevi region in eastern Turkey. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, it highlights how...
Firik Dede
Firik Dede, who lived during the past century in the Ovacık region of Dersim, occupies a place in Kurdish Alevi collective memory both as a...
Ahl-é Haqq (Ehli Heq, Ahl-é-Haqîqat, Yarsanism, Kaka‘i)
Yarsanism, also known as Ahl-e Haqq, is a syncretic belief that combines various mystical and gnostic traditions with Islamic, Mazdean, and ancient Kurdish elements. The...
Pomegranates: Ambivalent Symbol of Life and Death
The pomegranate (Punica granatum) was also known in Latin as Malum punicum [1] (“Punic, i.e. Phoenician apple”). In ancient Iranian and Abrahamic religions, as well...
Hako Sûr: A Springtime Ritual among Kurdish Alevis & Armenians in Dersim
Hako Sûr, also known as the Red Egg Festival, is a now largely forgotten springtime tradition that was once practised by Kurdish Alevi communities in...
Şavak Tribe: Alevi–Sunni Nomadic Community of Dersim
The Şavak tribe occupies a distinctive position within the ethno-cultural mosaic of Dersim, both historically and sociologically. As one of the rare cases in which...
Alevis’ Struggles for Rights: A Human Rights Law Perspective
A town in Central Anatolia. A green Alevi town in the steppe, like an oasis among yellow fields. The reason for my visit was, of...
HIGHLIGHTS
Seyit Rıza Monument (Dersim)
The Seyit Rıza Monument is a significant site of memory that renders visible, both symbolically and spatially, the place of the 1937–38 Dersim Massacre within...
Kurdish Alevis (Postscript to a TAVO Article [1989] - Revisited)
This entry revisits some of the observations made during anthropological fieldwork in the 1970s in Mazgirt/Dersim and published in TAVO (Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients)...
Firik Dede
Firik Dede, who lived during the past century in the Ovacık region of Dersim, occupies a place in Kurdish Alevi collective memory both as a...
Şavak Tribe: Alevi–Sunni Nomadic Community of Dersim
The Şavak tribe occupies a distinctive position within the ethno-cultural mosaic of Dersim, both historically and sociologically. As one of the rare cases in which...
Ahl-e Haqq (Yarsanism)
Ahl-e Haqq (also called Yarsanism, Yaresan and Kaka'i ) is a religion connected with Western Kurdistan, often classified as one of the movements inspired by...
Alevi Television Networks: Media and Alevism
Alevi television networks, created by and for Turkey’s Alevi community, have become central to the public articulation of Alevi culture, religion, and politics. Emerging in...
Village Cemevis and Transnational Alevi Placemaking
This entry traces the emergence and significance of rural cemevis built by migrants, situating them within broader debates on migration, religious change, and spatial politics....
Women in Alevism
In Alevism, women are not only foundational to social life but also to the spiritual cosmos. In Alevi theology, female womb is revered as the...
Dedes: Transformation of Religious Leadership in the Alevi Community
This entry examines the transformation of dedes—hereditary male religious leaders in Alevism—in response to migration, urbanization, and institutionalization since the 1990s. Traditionally embedded in rural...
Nusayris' Funeral Rituals
Arab Alawites (Nusayris) are an ethno-religious community with a secrecy-based belief system, living especially in Adana, Hatay, and Mersin. In these communities, funeral rituals are...
Mobilisation for Alevi Identity in Britain
This entry presents the social and political conditions for Alevi mobilisation in Britain by drawing on the history, migration background and living conditions of the...
Alevi-Bektaşi
The term Alevi-Bektaşi is today a common term not only in scholarly, political, and media contexts, but also among Alevi and Bektashi communities and organisations...
ALEVISM THROUGH THE VOICES OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Xızır (Hızır), Xızır Orucu – Xızır Lokması – Xızır Kurbanı – Ab-ı Hayat
Bu videoda Pir Hüseyin Bildik, Alevi inancının en merkezi figürlerinden biri olan “Xızır”ı kapsamlı biçimde ele alıyor. “Xızır Orucu”, “Xızır Lokması”, “Xızır Kurbanı”, “Xızır Adağı”...
Düşkünlük Makamı
Bu videoda, Alevi yolundaki “düşkünlük” kurumu üzerinde durulmaktadır. Düşkünlük yalnızca bir ceza değil, topluluğun ortak ahlaki zemininin korunmasına yönelik bir denetim mekanizmasıdır. Video, bu geleneğin...
Alevilikte Cem & Cemevleri
Bu videoda Pir Veli Uğur, Alevi inancının en merkezi ibadeti olan cem ritüelini tarihsel ve güncel boyutlarıyla eleştirel bir bakışla değerlendirmektedir. Cem, Aleviliğin hem bireysel...
Alevilik Nedir? – Aleviler ve İslam – İkrar – Hakikat – Devriye
Bu videoda Pir Rıza Yağmur, “Alevilik nedir?” sorusu etrafında şekillenen kapsamlı bir anlatı sunmakta; ikrar verme ritüelini deyişler eşliğinde açıklayarak Alevi inancının derin felsefi, teolojik...
Düşkünlük & Düşkün Ocağı
Bu video, Alevi inanç yolunda etik dışına çıkanların karşılaştığı en ağır toplumsal yaptırım olan “düşkünlük” kavramını ve bu makamı yürüten “Düşkün Ocağı”nın işlevini ele almaktadır....
Riza Sehri
Bu videoda Seyyid Seyfeddin (Pîrî Sevdîn) Ocağı mensubu pir Ali Doğan, Alevi düşün dünyasının en temel kavramsal çerçevelerinden biri olan "Rıza Şehri"ni anlatmaktadır. Bu anlatı,...
Canların Cinsiyeti
Bu ilgi çekici videoda Ana Narin Gülçiçeği, “İkrar”, “Musahiplik” ve özellikle “Canların Cinsiyeti” meselesi etrafında şekillenen güncel tartışmaları ele alıyor. Genç kuşaklar arasında giderek daha...
Hak – Hakikat – Dört Kapı Kırk Makam – Sır – En el Hak
Bu videoda Pir Hasan Erkişi, Alevi kozmolojisinin ve inanç sisteminin merkezinde yer alan “Hak” ve “Hakikat” kavramlarını açıklamakta, bu kavramlar etrafında şekillenen “Sır”, “Dört Kapı...
Abdal Musa – Abdal Musa Cemi – Görgü Cemi – İkrar – Kurban
Bu videoda Pir Celal Fırat, Abdal Musa’nın Alevi inanç sistemindeki merkezi konumunu ve onun adına düzenlenen cem ritüellerinin taşıdığı anlamı detaylı biçimde açıklamaktadır. Abdal Musa...
Cemal Abdal Ocağı (Dersim) & Elif Ana ve bir anı
Bu videoda Pir Hüseyin Elmas, Dersim’e bağlı Cemal Abdal Ocağı çevresinde şekillenen inanç pratiklerini ve ritüel repertuarını daha derinlemesine ele almaktadır. Ocak geleneğinin iç yapısını,...
14ler – 17ler – Musahip (Misayib) – Nefs
Bu videoda Pir Mahmut Ütebay, Alevi kozmolojisinin temel kavramları arasında yer alan 14’ler ve 17’ler anlayışı üzerine konuşmaktadır. Ayrıca misayib (misak, ezelî sözleşme) inancı ve...
Bağlama
Bu bölümde Pir Erkan Çanakçı, Alevi inanç ve müzik geleneğinde merkezi bir yer tutan çalgılar üzerine konuşmaktadır. Özellikle bağlama/tembur, kopuz, kıl kopuz, yaylı ve telli...
ANNOUNCEMENTS
II. Alevi Encyclopedia Symposium — Dortmund, 10–12 October 2025
The Second Alevi Encyclopedia Symposium will take place on 10–12 October 2025 at DAKME Alevitisches Kulturzentrum e.V. in Dortmund. Bringing together scholars, researchers, and experts...
Contribute to the Alevi Encyclopedia – 2nd Round Entries Open! (Deadline 15 September 2025)
Dear colleagues,
We would like to invite you to contribute to the second round of entries for the Alevi Encyclopaedia. This is an open-access, multilingual digital...
Knowledge Born from the Ashes: The Alevi Encyclopedia is Online!
Why July 2? July 2 is not an ordinary day on the calendar, but a turning point in the history of the Alevis.
It is the...
The Alevi Encyclopedia - Pirs and Anas Workshop Successfully Completed
The faith leaders who carry Alevism’s oral tradition into the present—pirs, anas, and dedes—came together on May 10–11, 2025, at the Rıza Şehri Academy for...
1st Pirler–Analar Workshop: Path Guides Explain Alevism
The “1st Pirler–Analar Workshop”, organized in cooperation with the Alevi Encyclopedia and the Rıza City Academy, will take place in Dortmund on May 10–11, 2025.
Alevi Encyclopedia Statement on Recent Developments in Syria
As the Alevi Encyclopedia approaches publication, we are deeply concerned by the recent escalation of jihadist violence and repression against minorities - particularly Alevis -...
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