What were members of an Alevi ocak (literally hearth, indicating a saintly lineage) reading at the beginning of the twentieth century? I attempt to answer this question by examining the family library of Şeyh Şazi ocak, which settled in the Yellice and Höbek villages of Sivas. The library is currently dispersed among different members of the Şeyh Şazi ocak and contains more than thirty manuscripts and printed books in diverse contents. Most of these books were dated between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. I argue that Kizilbash-Alevis’ relation to script and book culture took a different form starting from the eighteenth century and resulted in the multiplying of literary texts. I present an inventory of the library, and then discuss it within the context of Alevi book culture and reading practices. Through examination of marginalia and readers’ notes, I intent to shed light on the circulation of books that allows insights into the internal network within Alevi community. This micro-historical study aims to enlighten the history of an Alevi family and make a contribution to research on the literate culture of Alevism, as well as Ottoman book history.

This paper examines the rewriting of the history of violence against Alevis within the Turkish nation-state's tenure, focusing on the emergence of a "provocation narrative." Drawing from archival research spanning 1930 to 1990, including Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Tercüman newspapers, and Turkish Grand National Assembly Minute Periodicals, I argue that Turkish secularization has significantly shaped the narrative of discrimination against Alevis through the provocation lens. This narrative attributes violence against Alevis, such as massacres, to malicious provocateurs aiming to sow division between Alevis and Sunnis, diverting attention from state policies promoting Sunni hegemony. By emphasizing equality between Alevis and Sunnis, the provocation narrative serves to downplay disparities resulting from the state's Sunni-dominant nature, presenting a society characterized by fellowship or equality disrupted by specific provocateurs.

As significant written sources, erkânnames (books of regulations) are widely used in historical and cultural studies, providing valuable insights into the ritual practices of various Sufi groups. This study focuses on the Ayn-i Erkân Risâlesi, a Bektashi erkânname dated 1933, presented as a gift to Şahin Ağa-zâde Ahmed Ağa by Cemal Efendi-zâde Ahmed Kemaleddin. The manuscript contains poetry by both well-known Alevi-Bektashi poets like Hatâyî and Pir Sultan Abdal, as well as lesser-known poets from the 20th century who were contemporaneous with the manuscript's creation. This paper examines the poems and poets within the work in the context of erkânname literature and aims to contribute to the studies on Alevi literature.

Systematic studies on Alevi music in Turkey and elsewhere have long argued that baglama is not only a representative instrument of Turkish folk music (as it has been treated axiomatically by nationalist ideologues) but a sacred object that embodies centuries of Alevi religious and spiritual knowledge (Markoff 1987, Erol 2018). Starting in the 1980s, there was a surge of interest in learning the bağlama, largely fueled by the Alevi revival climate. Established by prominent Alevi musicians, private music schools, commonly known as “dershanes,” provided bağlama lessons to both professional and amateur musicians. In this paper, I argue that beyond music education, these dershanes created a space for Alevi communities to nurture communal bonds through classroom practice and informal sessions of music-making (muhabbets). These dershanes served as hubs for the circulation and dissemination of Alevi liturgical repertoire and certain vocal articulations and instrumental techniques deeply rooted in the tradition. Drawing from ethnographic research among Alevi musicians, this paper demonstrates how dershanes functioned as important systems in the pursuit of Alevi musical practices. By critically examining dershanes, this paper provides valuable insights into the following questions: how has the transmission of Alevi music occurred within these institutions? What opportunities do dershanes offer for preserving and revitalizing Alevi music? And finally, how do dershanes contribute to standardization, advancement, and diversity in Alevi music?

For over four decades, Alevi associations in the Turkish Republic have advocated for, constructed and operated Alevi architecture to provide social services like childcare and education alongside spaces for Alevi cem ceremonies. The Turkish constitutional definition of a place of worship (ibadethane) as a mosque (cami) effectively excludes other sites of communal religious practice from state protection and tax-derived operational funding, a condition that has been maintained by the current Sunni-centric governing party. As a result, opposition parties running municipal governments from Diyarbakır to Beylikdüzü have worked with Alevi advocates to entice Alevi voters and to serve Alevi constituents by circumventing state restrictions and bureaucratic impediments to Alevi architectures of assembly. In this paper, I utilize architectural case studies from my fieldwork to discuss how Alevi communities have worked with centrist and left-leaning political parties to facilitate design competitions, land allocation and use, licensing, and construction of Alevi architecture.