Politics of Alevi Identity in Turkey (VIDEO)

2010 Spring Lecture Series

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 9:30 AM EDT
Mason Hall, D3-A and B

Dr. Talha Köse enlightened many viewers by presenting on the Alevis, a group in Turkey that remains understudied. Dr. Köse focused on a portrayal of the contrast between the Turkish national identity versus the Alevi identity. With a gentrified name and “leftist politics,” the secularist Alevis are a heterotrophic phenomenon. Dr. Köse spent some time discussing how Alevis have transformed from a traditional to a more modern, urban culture and the Alevi’s contribution to the modern Turkish experience of Islam. Dr. Köse's talk laid out the political history of Alevis in Turkey; these include a relationship with the Kemalists in the 1960s, composing a communist sect comprising the ranks of the labor parties and even some terrorist groups, Alevis being overrepresented in the 1970s leading up to a 1980 coup, and how identity and political texts in the 1990s helped the continually gentrified Alevis gain their identity.

Talha Köse Ph.D. is the inaugural year post-doc fellow at the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University. Dr. Köse completed his doctoral studies at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR)-George Mason University. Köse’s doctoral research focuses on the transformation of Alevi identity within the post-1980 milieu of Turkey and is titled “Re-Negotiating Alevi Identity: Values, Emotions and the Contending Visions on Future.” Ethnic-sectarian and identity based conflicts, approaches to inter-cultural reconciliation, Alevi issues in Turkey, Kurdish issues, and Iran nuclear negotiations are some of the research interests of Dr Köse. His book titled “Iran’s Nuclear Agenda and the Middle East Politics: Balance of Powers and the Possibilities of Diplomatic Approaches” (2008 in Turkish). Köse has published academic articles in Insight Turkey, Akademik Ortadoğu, İnsan Hakları Araştırmaları and is a writer of several book chapters, policy reports and contributed to research projects both at SETA. Dr. Köse has also taught at George Mason University. 

Sponsored by Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies.