İmamoğlu recalls the regulation change they made regarding cemevis: 'For the first time'

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu attended the Khidr Lokma Sharing event at the Başakşehir Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli Cemevi.

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In his speech there, İmamoğlu stated that public services provided for the faith, life, demands, and cemevis of Alevi citizens are as legitimate as a mother's milk.

Expressing that they are a team determined to resolve all shortcomings and difficulties, İmamoğlu spoke as follows:

"We are the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality that has, for the first time in our Istanbul, established contact with all 110 of our cemevis in an inclusive manner, stood in solidarity with them, and will continue to do so by developing this further. We are striving to provide all the support our budget allows regarding all kinds of maintenance, repairs, and renovations."

İmamoğlu explained that their services are not limited to Istanbul, noting that they restored and opened the Pir Sultan House in Tunceli's Pülümür district for service, and that they have also made significant investments in the Hacıbektaş district.

Reminding that they are an organizing partner of the Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli commemoration events held in Hacıbektaş, İmamoğlu stated the following:

"With a decision we took by majority vote in the IMM Assembly in September 2024, we established the Branch Directorate for Relations with Religious Institutions and Communities, and we serve all faiths.

In the regulation of that directorate, we changed the part that read 'Our places of worship such as mosques, masjids, churches, synagogues...' to '...mosques, masjids, cemevis, churches, synagogues...' and for the first time, we included cemevis in our municipality's regulation as a form of place of worship."