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Is Syria War Additional Spark To Alevi Protests in Turkey?

The war in Syria and the fallout from the Gezi Park demonstrations may be revealing a fault line in Turkish politics.
Anti-government Alevi protesters shout slogans during a demonstration in Istanbul June 23, 2013. The European Union is on the verge of scrapping a new round of membership talks with Turkey, a move that would further undermine Ankara's already slim hopes of joining the bloc and damage its relations with Brussels. Germany, the EU's biggest economic power, is blocking efforts to revive Turkey's EU membership bid, partly because of its handling of anti-government protests that have swept the country in the last

Unless appropriate measures are taken and an exit is found quickly, Turkey is going to be facing developments that will be at least as formidable to handle as its Kurdish issue. The almost instantaneous spillover of incidents at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University to Antakya [historical city of Antioch] near the Syrian border, the death of 23-year-old Ahmet Arikan on Sept. 9 in Antakya in obscure circumstances that may or not involve the police and the immediate, instant eruption of protests in Istanbul are all signals that the Alevis are heading to the streets.

Turkey’s Sunni-Alevi contention is never spoken about although its confrontation potential is always felt. Since last June’s Taksim-Gezi events, which for most constitute a milestone in the country’s politics, Alevi presence in the streets has become perceptible.

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