How the Alevi community came to thrive in Germany

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · May 31, 2026 · 910 words · By Ceyda Nurtsch

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What to know about How the Alevi community came to thrive in Germany

How the Alevi community came to thrive in Germany May 31, 2026Alevis make up around 13% of Muslims living in Germany today.

Claims checked 18

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

How the Alevi community came to thrive in Germany May 31, 2026Alevis make up around 13% of Muslims living in Germany today.

Why it matters

Members of this religious community once predominantly lived in rural Anatolia, Turkey, passing on their spiritual beliefs and rites orally.

Common ground

When Turkey began experiencing a rural exodus from the 1950s onwards, along with increasing urbanization and migration to Europe, many Alevi village communities disappeared — and with them the knowledge of their faith in many places.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: How the Alevi community came to thrive in Germany?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Most are subsumed under the Alevi Community Germany (AABF, Almanya Alevi Birlikleri Federasyonu) umbrella organization?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-alevism-community-islam-culture-turkey-origin-fait…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 18 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 8

verified Verified By Reference 4

info Single Source 4

check_circle Corroborated 2

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Claim 1: “Most are subsumed under the Alevi Community Germany (AABF, Almanya Alevi Birlikleri Federasyonu) umbrella organization.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “The Alevi religious community is fully recognized in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 3: “Alevism developed from the 13th century onwards.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion explicitly states Alevism was developed in Central Anatolia during the 13th century.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alev [a:ˈlev] is a Turkish feminine given name (meaning flame). Notable people with the name include:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alev

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alevism (; Turkish: Alevilik; Kurdish: Elewîtî), also known as Qizilbashism, is a syncretic and mystic movement, traditionally associated with Haji Bektash Veli. It is generally agreed that it is akin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevism

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kurdish Alevism (Kurdish: Rêya Heqî, lit. 'The Path of God/Truth' or Elewîtî) refers to the unique rituals, sacred place practices, mythological discourses and socio-religious organizations among Kurd…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish_Alevism

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “Markus Dressler, a professor of modern Turkish studies at Leipzig University's Institute of Religious Studies”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “the institute, which opened in early 2026”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “These differences from Sunni Islam caused Alevis to suffer persecution in the Ottoman Empire (1299 to 1922), the predecessor state of today's Turkey.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific claim regarding persecution in the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922) is only explicitly detailed in the Deutsche Welle source; other provided sources discuss the empire generally or other massacres.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a smaller part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Geo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ottoman Empire, historically also known as the Turkish Empire, was a state that spanned much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th century to the early 20th century, centr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Turks (Turkish: Türkler), or Turkish people, are the largest Turkic ethnic group, comprising the majority of the population of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. They generally speak the various Turkish dial…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_people

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Alevis make up around 13% of Muslims living in Germany today.”

CORROBORATED

The claim is reported by Deutsche Welle and confirmed by a Springer Nature publication, providing two independent sources for the 13% figure.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Islam's significance in Germany increased after the labour migration in the 1960s and several waves of political refugees since the 1970s. In 2019, there were 15.3–15.6 million Muslims with a migrant…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Germany

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The History of the Alevism is that of a heterodox, esoteric community found within Anatolia and neighboring regions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevi_history

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “Today, Alevis constitute the second largest religious community in Turkey after Sunni Islam.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including MERIP and Alevilerin Sesi, confirm that Alevis are the second largest faith/religious community in Turkey.

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web search NEUTRAL — Alevis are the second largest faith community in Turkey. As a religious collective incorporating aspects of Shi‘i Islam into their teachings, Alevis have faced systematic state exclusion since the 192…
https://merip.org/topics/alevis/

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web search NEUTRAL — Alevism: Alevis are the second largest belief community in Turkey.The concept of Alevism is actually a broad term covering different language and ethnic communities sharing the same belief components.…
https://alevilerinsesi.eu/en/what-is-alevism/

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web search NEUTRAL — Today, Alevis constitute the second largest religious community in Turkey after Sunni Islam. Alevis include Turks, Kurds and members of other ethnic minorities such as the Zaza. The Alevi faith grew o…
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-alevism-community-islam-cultur…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 9: “Tens of thousands of Alevis were killed and their villages destroyed in the 1937/38 Dersim massacre perpetrated by the Turkish army.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and academic sources (Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence) confirm the 1937/38 Dersim massacre carried out by the Turkish military against Alevi Kurds and civilians.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The History of the Alevism is that of a heterodox, esoteric community found within Anatolia and neighboring regions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alevi_history

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Dersim massacre, also known as Dersim genocide, was carried out by the Turkish military over the course of three operations in the Dersim Province (renamed Tunceli) against Kurdish rebels of Alevi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dersim_massacre

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kurdish nationalist uprisings have periodically occurred in Turkey, beginning with the Turkish War of Independence and the consequent transition from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish state and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish–Turkish_conflict

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “Dressler heads a long-term research project on the ethnohistory of Alevi communities in Anatolia between the 16th and 20th century, which was launched in 2026.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 11: “Cem Kara, a professor of Alevi Theology at the University of Hamburg”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “His Institute for Alevi Theology, founded in 2024, is one of the first academic bodies in the world dedicated to this faith.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 13: “Alevis practice their faith in Alevi cemevi, the central space of Alevi worship.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and other sources confirm that the cemevi is the central place of worship/fundamental importance for Alevis.

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web search NEUTRAL — A cemevi or cem evi is a place of fundamental importance for Turkey's Alevi-Bektashiyyah tariqa populations. Certain Alevi organizations describe cemevis as places of worship, and ask for this to be o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemevi

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web search NEUTRAL — A Cemevi is not a cultural center, it is a place of worship. The state cannot define the faith of millions of Alevis through bureaucratic wordplay. We state clearly from here: Cemevis are places of wo…
https://cemevi.com/en/cemevis-are-the-places-of-worship-of-a…

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web search NEUTRAL — Cemevis are places of worship. This is not a matter of administrative interpretation, cultural definition or political discretion.Just as mosques, churches and synagogues are unquestionably recognized…
https://halkweb.com.tr/en/the-states-belief-regime-is-secula…

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Claim 14: “the 1993 Sivas arson attack which killed 35 people”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific death toll of 35 in the 1993 Sivas arson attack is only provided in the cross-reference from Deutsche Welle in the provided evidence set.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — the 1993 Sivas arson attack which killed 35 people
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-alevism-community-islam-cultur…

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Claim 15: “The Alevi faith grew out of a combination of Central Asian shamanism, Shiite Islam and Muslim mysticism.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and other sources describe Alevism as a syncretic movement integrating Twelver Shi'ism, Sufi mysticism, and Central Asian shamanic elements.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Adherents of Islam constitute the world's second largest and fastest growing major religious grouping, maintaining suggested 2017 projections in 2022. As of 2020, Pew Research Center (PEW) projections…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_by_country

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It is rooted in the belief that the Islamic prophet Muhammad explicitly designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib (r. 656–661) as his rig…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 16: “Today, there are around 200 Alevi organizations across Germany.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The figure of around 200 Alevi organizations in Germany is only mentioned in the Deutsche Welle cross-reference.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — Today, there are around 200 Alevi organizations across Germany.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-alevism-community-islam-cultur…

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Claim 17: “Alevis include Turks, Kurds and members of other ethnic minorities such as the Zaza.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the claim is mentioned by Deutsche Welle, the provided web search results for this specific claim were irrelevant (poem generators), leaving only the original source.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Create rhythmic poems easily with the Rhyming Poem Generator. Perfect for crafting verses with consistent rhyme schemes and musical flow.
https://generatepoem.io/rhyming-poem-generator/

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web search NEUTRAL — The AI Poem Generator is an automated tool that uses advanced language technology to create unique and creative poems based on user-selected prompts and themes.
https://poemanalysis.com/poem-generator/

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web search NEUTRAL — Automatically generate imaginative poetry using your own ideas. Select from a variety of structures and we'll do the rhyming, syllable counting and imagery for you.
https://www.poem-generator.org.uk/

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 18: “Gülizar Cengiz, member of the Bektashi order, chairs the institute [Alevi-Bektashite Cultural Institute in North Rhine-Westphalia].”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.