Albania's prime minister has revealed plans to establish a microstate within the country's capital, Tirana. The enclave for the Bektashi Muslim minority would be "similar to the Vatican" and act as a "new centre of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence", Edi Rama told the UN General Assembly in New York. If the plan goes ahead, it would be the smallest sovereign state in the world.
What is the Bektashi Order? The Bektashi population is Albania's fourth-largest religious group, after Sunni Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Established in the 13th century, the Bektashi Order combines "a loose interpretation of the Quran with mysticism, elements of Turkey's pre-Islamic faiths and devotion to their deceased wise men, known as dervishes", said The New York Times.
The movement was once spread throughout the Ottoman Empire, but when a secular Turkish Republic was established in 1923, the Bektashis moved their base to Tirana. It is from here that the sect's current leader, Edmond Brahimaj, known to followers as Baba Mondi, governs the Bektashi community.
What are the prime minister's plans? The 27-acre proposed microstate covers the movement's existing compound in a residential district of eastern Tirana. Despite being only a quarter of the size of the Vatican City, it would have its own passports, administration and borders. Only clergy members and administrative staff would live within the microstate, according to AFP.
Although members of the sect have been "subjected to centuries of persecution in Muslim lands", said The New York Times, the new Bektashi state "won’t have an army, border guards or courts". But Baba Mondi has indicated that it "might need a small intelligence service".
How has the plan been received? "As often happens in Albania, many experts and the public were completely in the dark about the details of the government's plan," said Deutsche Welle. "For most, the decision came entirely out of the blue."
Baba Mondi called the initiative a "miracle", but others worry that giving a religious group statehood might disrupt sectarian relations in the country. The proposal, said Reporter.al – part of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – "is regarded by political analysts as strange and absurd". |