Alawites in Syria and Alevis in Turkey: Crucial Differences
by Stephen Schwartz
August 17, 2012 at 4:30 am
Most significant is the political difference. Alawites support a brutal dictatorship, while Turkish and Kurdish Alevis defend electoral democracy.
Sectarian differences, threatening to ensnare Muslims outside Syria's borders, have emerged as a key aspect of the horrific bloodshed there. Since February 2011 the Syrian protestors, mainly following Sunni Islam, have mobilized against the Baathist government of Bashar Al-Assad, as a further chapter in the "Arab Spring." As of the end of July 2012, fatalities in the Syrian fighting are estimated at more than 20,000.
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