ALEVIAN FAITH THE STUDIES OF IREN MELIKOFF

Abstract

Irene Melikoff is the author of a series of studies on the Alevian faith. İn her work has been studied in various ways by personalities such as Haji Bektash Wali, Imadaddin Nasimi, Shah Ishmael Khatai, Mohamed Fizuli and Pir Sultan Abdal. Irene Melikoff conducted her research not only on the topic of Alevian faith on world scientific theories, but repeatedly visited “Kirklarin
cemi” (“Meeting of forty”) and witnessed their work. In addition, she met with representatives of various sects in a number of countries and cities around the world – in the Balkans, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and other places – and made interesting comparisons about the “Kırkların cemi”.

Until recently, there had been virtually no research on the Alevism faith in Azerbaijan. There are a number of reasons for this. First, the topic was ignored because it did not fit with the government’s atheist propaganda during the Soviet era. On the other hand, the lack of widespread dissemination of the Alevism faith in Azerbaijan led to a lack of interest. Interestingly, while in
Baku, Iren Hanum attended the “Kırkların Cemi” event in Buzovna village and reported on it in articles and interviews.