City council votes for Alevi worship houses

MERSİN - Doğan News Agency

If Mersin Gov. approves the decision to pay for their expenses, the recognition of the Cemevis by a provincial assembly will be a first in Turkey. AA photo

The provincial assembly in the southern province of Mersin has voted for a decision to accept cemevis (Alevi worship houses) as a place of belief and decided to compensate their general expenses from the budget of the special provincial administration.

The decision came after the Alevi Culture Federations’ Mersin branch head Suat Yıldız’s application to Mersin provincial administration. In his application, Yıldız said the Alevi worship houses were a place of worship and asked that electricity, water and maintenance work be paid from the administration’s budget.
Mersin’s Provincial Council’s decision was voted by members from both the ruling and opposition parties, with participation by 58 members out of 60. The decision will go into effect once it is approved by Mersin Gov. Hasan Basri Güzeloğlu.

“I would like to thank all members of the assembly for their deicison,” Suat Yıldız said. “We hope that our Governor will not turn it down and it will be a first example in Turkey. We respect all different kinds of beliefs and we expect the same,” he said.