Newscriticism: "Albania to set up Sufi Muslim Bektashi microstate" (DW, September 24th, 2024)

[From DW's article.]

SUMMARY

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has proposed the establishment of a 27-acre sovereign microstate in Tirana for the Shia Sufi Bektashi Order, drawing parallels to Vatican City. Announced during a speech at the UN General Assembly, the plan aims to create a center for moderation, tolerance, and coexistence, as the Bektashi community has a long history in Albania, where it has been headquartered since 1929. The initiative has received mixed reactions, with Bektashi leaders expressing enthusiasm while experts and the public have raised concerns about the implications for religious harmony in Albania.

While supporters believe the microstate could promote interfaith dialogue, critics worry it may set a dangerous precedent for religious governance and disrupt the balance of religious representation. The Albanian Constitution's requirement for a parliamentary amendment to facilitate such a move adds to the uncertainty surrounding the initiative. Additionally, the Muslim Community of Albania has expressed discontent, claiming the decision was made without proper consultation with other religious groups. The full impact of this proposal on Albania's religious landscape remains to be seen​.

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NEWSCRITICISM

Here, I shall state that the creation of a Bektashi State is another example of the creation of another Civilization in the modern world. This creation, on which it had become the essential stage of its own existence, had been a result of a State-Civilization willing itself in the world to create a new Civilization within its own borders; it is not just merely a desire by its people to create another state to represent them, but a desire to create a new civilization in the world to preserve their own existence and essence. The birth of the Bektashi State is exemplary in an act of reassertion of themselves, a reassertion that proved to be powerful in the long run. Thier existence is the product of thier own experience in existence; now, thier existence evolved into an expression of thier will to be unique - by way of being truly sovereign by essence. Thier world, they believed, must and shall be free; self-determination is existence manifest as ideation, the ideation of all culmination in the existences of the assertion-creation of all Civilizations in the world.

The world becomes restless in the creation of the new civilization, for there is still hope that Mankind still is active in the creation of many wonders in the world - the wonders of reasserting its viewpoints of the Six Pillars and the Three Spheres that come to dominate the existential thought of Mankind for a thousand years or more.

For the Bektashis, this will is a great manifestation of thier desire to become a people that are an end in themselves in the existence of man. This clearly shows that the creation of the Bektashi State was not merely a political act, but a philosophical one, rooted in the belief that their people must stand as a unique expression of human existence. The Bektashis believed that their state was a necessary medium through which their deeper ideals and values could flourish and continue to evolve. Their assertion of sovereignty was not just about independence, but about manifesting a distinct civilization that reflected their own essence. In this way, their state-building effort was intertwined with a broader spiritual and existential purpose that transcended mere survival.

And so, thier future under thier own determined sovereignty for thier independent civilization shall be peaceful and prosperous in the face of the stagnancy of existence. Maybe one day they will soon trigger a re-enlightenment amongst them that will redefine thier interpreation and position in the world? Who knows? Time will give us enough answers once they are independent.

Joshua Kyle T. Rovero

Estado Rovero

October 8th 2024