In a controversial pre-election move directed at Turkey’s Alevi population, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has established a new public agency to coordinate Alevi places of worship.
The new body, attached to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, will research the needs of the cemevis — the Alevi community's houses of worship — as well as Alevism and Bektashism, according to the decree. It also sees the establishment of an 11-strong consultative body, all of them selected by the president.
