Alevi - Demographics

Demographics

The Alevi population has been estimated as follows:

• "approx. 15 million..." —Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi.
• In Turkey, 15 percent of Turkey's population (approx. 10.6 million) —David Shankland
• "Most Alevi writers and spokespersons claim that Turkey's population today is one-third Alevi-Bektashi, or more than 20 million. Lower estimates range from 10 to 12 million."—John Schindeldecker.
• "The Alevi constitute the second-largest religious community in Turkey (following the Sunnis), and number some 25% (15 million) of the total population (Alevis claim 30%–40%). Most (?) Alevis are ethnic and linguistic Turks, mainly of Turkmen descent from Central and Eastern Anatolia. Some 20% of Alevis are Kurds (though most Kurds are Sunnis), and some 25% of Kurds in Turkey are Alevi (Kurmanji and Zaza speakers)." —David Zeidan.
• "15 to 20 million..." —Olli Rehn, from the 1996 (Camiel) "Eurlings Report" to the European Commission (on the suitability of Turkish accession to the EU).
• "...a world total of between 15 and 25 million adherents. There is no independent data for their numbers, so these statistics are estimates or conjectures." —"Alevism," from The Encyclopedia of the Orient.

In June 2008, several Turkish newspapers reported that the Turkish military had commissioned three universities to research the ethnic demography of Turkey. The study was done in 2000 and included all ethnic groupings. According to the results, the Alevi population of Turkey, including those who currently reside in Europe, is around 10 million. However, following the death of its leader in a suspicious traffic accident, remaining research scientists abandoned the project and never published the results.

Alevis have been subjected to persecution (often deadly) for centuries. Due to this fact, some have been assimilated. It is not clear how effective the above study is in including those who might be more timid about advertising their Alevi origins.

Some of the Kurdish Alevis speak Kurmanji or Zazaki. Some Alevis are Azeris. Despite universalist rhetoric (and in contrast with Islam in general, or the Bektashi order), Alevi communities do not generally acknowledge the possibility of conversion to Aleviness.

Alevi communities are concentrated in central Anatolia, in a belt from Çorum in the west to Muş in the east. The only province within Turkey with an Alevi majority is Tunceli, formerly known as Dersim. Beginning in the 1960s, many Alevis have migrated to the large cities of western and southern Turkey—and to western Europe, especially Germany—and are now heavily urbanized.

There are also large communities of Alevis in some regions of Iranian Azerbaijan. The town of Ilkhichi (İlxıçı), which is located 87 km south west of Tabriz is almost entirely populated by Alevis. For political reasons, one of which was to create a distinct identity for these communities, they have not been called Alevi since the early 20th century. They are called various names, such as Ali Illahi, Ahl-e Haqq and Goran.

In Greece there is a native 3000 people community in Western Thrace.

Groups with similar beliefs also exist in Iranian Kurdistan. Interestingly, both the Dersim (Zazaki / Zaza) people and the Gorani, who are both considered to belong to the Hawramani branch of the North West Iranian languages, adhere to a form of Alevi faith which resembles the religions of the Druze or Yazidi.