Europe's New Islamic Microstate: Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order

Описание: Islam is the second-largest and fastest-growing religion in Europe.
And, if all goes according to plan, Albania will be establishing a new Vatican-style microstate in its capital, Tirana, tentatively called the Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order.

This microstate will be fully sovereign and control a 27-acre patch of land – just under a quarter of the size of Vatican City, currently the world’s smallest country.

Citizenship will be limited to members of the Bektashi Order’s clergy and individuals dealing with state administration.

Established in the 13th century, the Bektashi are an Islamic Sufi religious order or “tariqa” that eventually became the official order of the Janissaries, an elite corps in the standing army of the Ottoman Empire.
Because of this, Bektashi largely came to be associated with European Muslim converts and, following the so-called Auspicious Incident, when Sultan Mahmud II violently disbanded the Janissaries in 1826, the Order was itself banned.

Bektashism, however, staged a modest comeback during the Tanzimat, a reform period that began with the Gulhane Edict in 1839, but, following the Ottoman Empire’s dissolution and subsequent founding of the Turkish Republic, the Order was once again banned, when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ordered the closing of all Sufi lodges or “tekkes” in 1925.

During the 1920s, Bektashi leadership moved their headquarters from Turkey to Albania and there were an estimated 52 lodges in the country by 1933.

Exactly how many followers of the Order there are nowadays is a bit hard to say, but, according to a 2023 census, Bektashi make up about 9% of Albania’s Muslim population and 5% of the total population.

#history #albania #europe #ghostcountries #geopolitics

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro + Europe's New Microstate?
01:12 Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order
02:04 Who Are the Bektashi?
04:37 The Order Comes to Albania
06:26 Challenges for the Microstate
07:33 International Support?

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Intro Animation + Character Design: Emily Clearwater (iamprettyawesome.co.nz)

Background Music: Clash Defiant Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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