About us
General introduction
The Alevi Community of Berlin has been working actively and successfully in the fields of culture, education, faith and integration since 1979. Our organisation is entered in the register of associations under the name „Berlin Alevi Toplumu – Alevitische Gemeinde zu Berlin e.V.” and since 2002 has been officially recognised by the Berlin Senate as an organisation authorised to provide religious education. Through the Alevi religious education offered in Berlin schools, the Alevi Community of Berlin also demonstrates its transparent and liberal stance in public. It also engages actively with social issues and makes its views known. In the 2009 Berlin referendum, it took a public stand in favour of ethics being taught as a compulsory subject in schools, with religious education offered in addition as an elective subject. The decisive factor in this position was not only the organisation’s own interest, but the aim that pupils of different faiths and world views should study and discuss moral questions together, making it easier for everyone to live together.
The Alevi Community of Berlin is represented by its Executive Board, which is elected every two years. The work of the Executive Board is supported and reviewed by various councils with expertise in their respective fields. Service to people is always at the heart of our work. Our organisation regards it as a core task to speak out about concrete social problems and to look for ways of solving them.
The main aims of the Alevi Community of Berlin are:
- Standing up against injustice and supporting what is right
- Tolerance, social responsibility and mutual consent (rızalık)
- Equality of all people, equality of women and men
- Progress in education and teaching
- Meeting material needs for the sake of social peace
These aims and our work are founded on Alevi values, which are also in keeping with the German Basic Law (constitution). We draw our strength from the constructive criticism of our members and of friendly organisations and individuals. In Berlin’s political arena, BAT sees itself as a non-partisan organisation. The services we offer to the roughly 70,000 Alevis who have made Berlin their home, and to other, non-Alevi Berliners, are shaped on this basis.
The members of the Alevi Community of Berlin come from various regions of Türkiye. As a result, their traditions and languages also differ. Our organisation is aware of this diversity and is committed to preserving and developing it. Alongside Turkish and German, Zazaki and Kurmanji are also spoken within the community. These languages are regarded as an asset. In recent years the Alevi Community of Berlin has also faced a number of challenges. The rapid development of means of communication has required our organisation to make changes across all areas of its work. One result of these changes is the steadily growing network we have built with social institutions and organisations.
The growing importance that the public attaches to the quality of our events gives us new tasks. The focus of our work lies not only on the aims of our organisation, but also on continuity of service and events open to the public. As a result, we are going through a process of change and development.
As a modern and transparent organisation, we always strive to be a competent partner, open to new ideas, for other organisations and for the public authorities in our city. Interesting ideas from people are taken up immediately and put into practice. Those responsible within our organisation follow and support this process so that it can benefit future projects and events.
Conscious of this social responsibility, the Alevi Community of Berlin has carried out numerous projects since 2006 in cooperation with the Soziale Stadt (Socially Integrative City) programme and Quartiersmanagement (neighbourhood management). Through these projects it has addressed many of the problems faced by people with a migrant background in family and school matters and has helped to solve them. We believe that these problems must be fully resolved in the medium term. Through these projects, our organisation aims to be a meeting place for people of all ages and genders and of different nationalities and world views. This is intended to bring about peaceful coexistence, friendly and helpful neighbourliness, a higher quality of life and greater individual educational opportunities. As an open and transparent place, our organisation offers people the chance to meet new people and make friends.
Alevi Community of Berlin – Cemevi
Executive Board