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The Bektashi State in Albania, VOA: The legal path to be followed is unclear, what does the Constitution provide?

Politiko 2024-09-23 09:10:24

The Bektashi State in Albania, VOA: The legal path to be followed is unclear,

With the idea of "transforming the center of the Bektashi World Order into a sovereign state within the Albanian capital", Prime Minister Edi Rama closed his speech at the "Future Summit", the meeting held at the United Nations General Assembly. The day before, he had spoken at length on this subject during an interview given to the American newspaper New York Times, while the World Headquarters of the Bektashis immediately called it an "extraordinary initiative" that, according to it, will bring "a new era for tolerance global religious and the promotion of peace". Even Mr. Rama declared that the sovereign state of the Bektashians would be "a new center of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence".

While Prime Minister Rama has not provided many details about this idea which he chose to make known from New York, it is clear that he has consulted for a long time with the Bektashi community, whose leaders were not at all surprised. In a statement distributed on Sunday by the Bektashi World Headquarters in Tirana, it is explained that with this initiative the Bektashi Order "will gain sovereignty similar to the Vatican, allowing it to govern religious and administrative matters autonomously. The move will enable the Order to strengthen its role in promoting global interfaith dialogue and countering the rise of violent extremism around the world. Sovereignty will ensure the protection and independence of the religious practices of the Bektashi Order and the international promotion of these values".

According to the Bektash world patriarch Haxhi Dede Edmond Brahimaj, who had also commented earlier on the prime minister's proposal in an interview with the New York Times, "this initiative is not about self-determination; nor are we seeking influence or political power. Instead, we are seeking the freedom to continue our centuries-old tradition of spiritual moderation and religious inclusion," the Grandfather was quoted in the statement, while further explaining that "as a spiritual entity, citizenship in the new sovereign state of the Bektashi Order will be limited only to members of the clergy and individuals engaged in state administration. The government of the state will be led by the spiritual leadership of the Order, with the Grandfather (Dedebaba) and a council that will oversee the religious and administrative functions".

The Bektashi State is expected to extend to the existing territories of the World Headquarters, on an area of several hectares, in a peripheral area of Tirana. Since 1929, the world headquarters of Betashis moved from Turkey to the Albanian capital.

It remains unclear the legal path that will have to be followed for the recognition of his sovereignty. The Albanian Constitution provides in its Article 1 that "The Republic of Albania is a unitary and indivisible state". An intervention to change it would require a two-thirds majority of parliament, or 94 votes.

There is no exact figure for the number of Bektash believers in the world, while in Albania, according to the data of the last census, carried out last year, a little more than 115 thousand people, or less, have declared themselves as such. than 5 percent of the resident population./ VOA