“With my colleague Cemil Boyraz we conducted a research on the Alevis in Turkey. One interesting result is that the opening with good intentions by the state, lead to great unity among the Alevi groups, but at the same time it lead to some disillusionment and disaffection among the Alevis considering the state, because their suspicions were reinforced,” explains Murat Borovali, Vice Rector of Istanbul’s Bilgi University. “They were not trusting the government’s motives initially anyway and for some their suspicions have just been reinforced. In that sense the opening itself may have even lead to a greater divide between the Alevis and the state, rather than to a rapprochement. Secondly, what we have seen is that the Alevis desire a platform to meet their needs, which is roughly a democratic constitutional measure and which – not only on paper but in practice also – offers and implements equal citizenship, equal religious rights and religious freedoms for all.” We interviewed Prof. Borovali during our Istanbul Seminars 2013.