ALEVI ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE FOUNDATION PROCESS OF THE FEDERATION OF ALEVI UNIONS IN DENMARK DANİMARKA ALEVİ ÖRGÜTLENMESİ VE DANİMARKA ALEVİ BİRLİKLERİ FEDERASYONUNUN KURULUŞ SÜRECİ
Turk Kulturu ve Haci Bektas Veli - Arastirma Dergisi, sa.118, ss.409-433, 2026 (Scopus, TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.60163/tkhcbva.1747084
- Dergi Adı: Turk Kulturu ve Haci Bektas Veli - Arastirma Dergisi
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Directory of Open Access Journals, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM), MLA International Bibliography
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.409-433
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Alevi Community in Denmark, Alevi Community in Europe, Alevi Organization in Denmark, European Turkish Community, Simultaneity, Transnational Communities
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study aims to examine the history of the Alevi organization in Denmark, which is a largely unexplored subject within the literature on Turkish migration to Europe, within the context of the transnational reconstruction of migrant identity. The study specifically focuses on the recognition of the Alevi community in Denmark as an independent religious community in 2007. Although numerically small within Denmark's Turkish population, the Alevi community in Denmark became the first in Europe to secure official recognition of Alevism as a distinct faith. The study examines the identity construction process of the Alevi faith community in Denmark alongside its historical development. The establishment of the Federation of Alevi Unions in Denmark (Alevi Forbundet i Danmark - Danimarka Alevi Birlikleri Federasyonu) holds fundamental importance in this process of identity acquisition. Consequently, the study also traces the conditions and processes leading to the emergence of this organization. To achieve this aim, the study draws on data obtained through an in-depth interview with a 'key informant' who was actively involved in the founding of the Federation of Alevi Unions in Denmark (DABF). The research concludes that the organizations address the economic and social needs of migrant workers laid the groundwork for the Alevi community to develop an institutional structure based on religious identity. The study claims that organizations initially established in Denmark to support migrant workers' social and economic needs created the conditions for the Alevi community to develop a religious-based institutional structure. The organizational process of Alevi communities in Denmark is an example where the concepts discussed in the literature on diaspora and transnational communities are concretized. By organizing under diaspora conditions, Alevi communities have reinforced internal solidarity while also becoming a visible and recognized actor in the public sphere through negotiations with the Danish state. This process is a reflection of the transformation from a historical identity toward gaining an institutional identity.