During the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama proposed the creation of a sovereign Bektashi state in Tirana, modeled after the Vatican in Rome, Italy.
“We are considering supporting the transformation of the Bektashi World Centre in Tirana into a sovereign state, a new center of moderation, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence,” stated the Albanian Prime Minister.
This state would serve as the “political home” for Bektashi Muslims, Albania’s fourth-largest religious community after Sunni Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Catholics.
According to the 2023 census, the Bektashis are estimated to number around 115,000 and account for about 10% of Albania’s Muslim population.
The Bektashis are an Islamic mystical Sufi order, one of the earliest ascetic communities in Islam, based in Tirana and originating from the 13th-century Ottoman Empire.
If E. Rama’s proposal is realized, the citizens of this new state would include members of the clergy and administrative staff, with the area covering roughly 100 acres.
Former Albanian President and leader of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta, accused Rama of using the Bektashis for electoral gain.
“He introduced the idea of Bektashi Order sovereignty on the eve of the elections in a unilateral, uncompromising, and unclear manner,” Meta said.
He added, “While any effort to promote our national value of religious tolerance and to imagine Albania as the global center of Bektashism is welcome, it must not be exploited for short-term electoral agendas. The Bektashi motto, ‘no homeland, no religion,’ is a legacy we must protect with the utmost care.”
