The Cemal Abdal Ocak (Dersim) & the Aziz Mahmut Ocak (Diyarbakır)

In this video, Pir Hüseyin Elmas comparatively examines the historical, religious, and social contexts of the Cemal Abdal Ocak centered in Dersim and the Aziz Mahmut Ocak centered in Diyarbakır. Both Ocaks play significant roles within the Alevi belief system as bearers of an authority structure grounded in the lineage of pirlik. Pir Elmas discusses, through local examples, the ritual practices of these Ocaks, their forms of communal organization, their relationships with ziyaret sites, and their influence on talip communities, while also questioning how Ocak identity is sustained in the present.

This recording was compiled within the framework of the oral presentations delivered at the Pirler–Analar Workshop held on 10–11 May 2025, hosted by the Dortmund Alevi Cultural Center – Rıza Şehri Academy (DAKME). Conducted as part of the Alevi Encyclopedia project, this study renders visible the structural similarities and points of divergence among Ocaks located in historically and geographically different regions, and documents—through oral culture—the continuities of belief preserved in the collective memory of Alevi communities.