Turkey’s Arab Alawites stand at a crossroads
Ali Gokpinar and Michael Page
December 6, 2014 Updated: December 6, 2014 06:57 PM
Two men sporting long beards, military pants and black T-shirts walked into one of the corner markets in the southern Turkish coastal city of Iskenderun last May. Greeting the shop owner in Arabic, they wanted to know where the neighbourhood mosque was. Finding there wasn’t one, they asked if the shopkeeper was an Alawite. He was. ISIL “is coming to exterminate the entire kuffar Nusayri community,” one of the men shouted before leaving, using the derogatory term for Alawites. The incident sparked rumours that the militant group was building networks in the city. Paranoia has escalated to new heights among Arab Alawites in southern Turkey.
More:Turkey’s Arab Alawites stand at a crossroads | The National
