“The new professorship for Alevi theology at the University of Hamburg is a significant success in terms of an open society. Its establishment once again makes it clear in an outstanding way that Alevis are just as much a part of our society as citizens of Christian, Jewish or Muslim faith.” This is what Frieder Otto Wolf, President of the Humanist Association of Germany, said today in Berlin at the opening ceremony of the professorship for Alevism, which will take place on Friday afternoon at the Academy of World Religions at the University of Hamburg.
The newly created teaching and research center for Alevi doctrine is the first of its kind in the world. The University of Hamburg thus offers a space for researching and teaching Alevi doctrine and embeds it in the interreligious work of the Academy of World Religions. The holder of the professorship is the ethnologist Handan Aksünger, who previously worked for the state government’s Integration Commissioner at the Ministry for Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration in North Rhine-Westphalia and as a lecturer at the University of Innsbruck and Weingarten University of Education. The first extension course for the university training of teachers for Alevi Religious Education (ARU) was opened at Weingarten University of Teacher Education in May 2014. The new junior professorship “offers the opportunity to compile and academically research the Alevi teachings that have often only been passed down orally for centuries. At the same time, this professorship gives the Alevi community its own permanent place in the mosaic of our diverse society,” explained Melek Yildiz, Deputy Secretary General of the Alevi Community Germany, at the opening ceremony. Frieder Otto Wolf went on to say that he congratulated Jun. Prof. Dr. Handan Aksünger and the Alevi Community of Germany on “this historic success”. “We greatly appreciate the work of the Alevis in Germany, who are committed to humanist values and an open, democratic society in their work in their communities and branches as well as in a variety of other projects. I therefore warmly congratulate them on this achievement, which is also associated with significant public recognition,” said Wolf. Up to 800,000 Alevis live in Germany. In Turkey, the members of the Alevi religious community form the largest religious minority with around 15 percent of the population. They have been oppressed there for centuries, have repeatedly been victims of violent persecution and are still not officially recognized as a religious community.
