The news of the plans for the establishment of a sovereign state of the Bektashi Shi’ite sufi order in Tirana, which the prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, announced by the United Nations General Assembly, has caused various reactions among experts. Rama said the sovereign enclave, which will resemble the Vatican, would be a “new centre of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence”.
It’s too early to make a statement
Asked about the plans for the microstate of the Bektashi order, the German ambassador to Albania, Karl Bergner, said in a statement to Deutsche Vancelle, that it is still too early to make statements on this issue.
“There are many internal steps that need to be followed before this issue is brought to the table. It is not appropriate to discuss or comment on it at this time. We have a lot of sympathy for the Bektashi order. I have visited Baba Mondi several times, but the question: whether the state is the right presentation and whether the international community will recognize it, is completely something else,” said the German ambassador in Tirana.
No comments at this stage
The European Union Delegation in Albania also declined to comment on the issue. “We have no comment at this stage. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion is enshrined in Article 10 of the EU Charter of fundamental rights. The EU generally supports tolerance and interreligious dialogue. The EU does not have the competence to regulate religious matters,” the statement said.
Founded during the thirteenth century in the Ottoman Empire, the Bektashi order moved its center to Tirana since 1929.
The Albanian government plans to build on the area of 27 hectares, the micro-state called the “Sovereign State of the Bektashi order”, which will have its own borders, administration and passports.
