ABSTRACT
At the present day, Alevism is experiencing the pangs of a new birth amidst the plurality of voices, the search for a new identity, the formation of a civil society and the process of general democratisation characteristic of modern Turkey. These birth pangs may well stem from the rapid economic, ethnic and political changes now taking place, but, in my opinion, the most important question confronting Alevism today is that of identity and legitimacy, and the basic factor determining this identity undoubtedly consists of the positions adopted by the “congregations” in the theological sphere. Alevism, which never, at any period in its history, has produced so much theological material as at the present day, is now engaged in intense efforts to explain itself to itself and, although it has left this rather late in the day, to others (it would probably be an oversimplifaction to say “to the Sunnis”).
