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World Bektashi Center, world headquarters of the Bektashis in Albania.
INTERNATIONAL – It will cover only a handful of hectares and become the smallest country in the world. Albania is about to create a microstate for a Muslim minority in its capital, Tirana, reports the New York Times in an article published on Saturday, September 21.
The state will be dedicated to the Bektashis, a Shiite order that advocates a tolerant vision of religion but is considered heretical by conservative Shiites and Sunnis. Founded in the 13th century, it took up residence in Albania after being banned in Turkey in the early 20th century by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the secular Turkish republic.
What should this original state look like? About 10 hectares in size, a quarter of the size of the Vatican or the equivalent of five city blocks in New York, the sovereign state of the Bektashi order will allow alcohol and let women wear whatever they want. A departure from states where the Muslim religion dominates.
Borders, a clean passport, but no army
The Bektashi will have its own borders, its own green passport, a small secret service “because we also have enemies”emphasizes the future leader, Edmond Brahimaj, known to his followers as Baba Mondi. There will be no army, border guards or courts of justice, however. Baba Mondi adds that his state will never seek to expand. “Size doesn’t matter, I don’t need to be a dictator”assures the 65-year-old religious man.
Baba Mondi, leader of the Bektashis, a Shiite religious movement based in Albania.
Albania’s socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama told the American daily that the microstate had to show that it was necessary “to care for the treasure of religious tolerance that we must never take for granted”. The precise plans for this future entity will be revealed in the near future.
For it to see the light of day, the Socialist-majority Parliament must vote on the text. Legal experts are currently looking into the creation of the micronation so that it fits into Albanian law. And once the state is created, there is no guarantee that foreign countries will agree to recognize it, as is the case for the Vatican.
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