Alevis see no solution before the elections

Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu met with representatives of the Alevi communities in Istanbul late March 21, after which many of the representatives stated they did not expect concrete solutions to their problems before the upcoming elections in June.

The Alevi communities voiced their concerns and discussed potential solutions in a dinner with Davuto?lu at the Dolmabahçe office of the prime ministry in a meeting which lasted about 3.5 hours.

?zzettin Do?an, the chairman of the Cem Foundation, said they mainly discussed the primary concerns and the legal status of Alevis in a press conference after the meeting.

"We discussed the problems of Alevis and how these problems can be solved in general and exchanged ideas. The prime minister spoke positively and said that several arrangements on the issues will be made," said Do?an.

In addition, H?z?r Düzgün, the chairman of the Baba Mansur Association, said the main concern of the Alevis is their legal status, hoping that they will eventually get positive results.

"The most primary concerns of Alevis are to gain official status for cemevis and issues on religious classes. We discussed the main concerns such as the allocation of money from the government budget for Alevis. The prime minister leans towards our problems. Hopefully, we will get a positive answer. Our studies are going on and we will get concrete results," said Düzgün.

Meanwhile, Fevzi Gümü?, the Alevi-Bekta?i Federation (ABF) head, said the problems should be resolved in a democratic platform, adding the government has currently no will to solve the problems.

"[?] Political power's will is not in the direction of resolving these problems. We mentioned that the Republican People's Party [CHP]...