TIRANA, Albania — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Sunday his country would transform the Tirana-based Bektashi Muslims, an Islamic Sufi order, into a sovereign state to promote moderation ...

In Kruje, a town north of the capital that is the site of a castle used in the 15th century by Skanderbeg, Albania’s national hero, Ismet Kaciu, a retired Bektashi teacher, said that he had not ...

Reuters. A drone view shows the Bektashi World Center where Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama plans to create a Vatican-style state for the Islamic Bektashi Order in Tirana, Albania January 25, 2025.

The Bektashi Order has been headquartered in Albania since the 1930s after it was banned in Turkey. Estimates vary, but today there are said to be between 7 and 20 million Bektashis around the world.

Albania proposes plans to create a new, ... has been the headquarters of the Bektashi movement here in Albania. The sound of sirens representative of city life in the distance.

Home; Religion; the explainer Inside Albania's planned Muslim microstate. Proposal for 'Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order', a Vatican-style enclave, has sparked confusion, praise and heated debate ...

Such attitudes encourage excellent relations with Albania’s Christians. In the 19th century, some Christians affiliated with the Bektashi order and participated in their ceremonies, although they also ...

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said Sunday his country would transform the Tirana-based Bektashi Muslims, an Islamic Sufi order, into a sovereign state to promote ...

Albania will create a sovereign Muslim state in Tirana for the Bektashi religious order, along the lines of the Vatican in Rome, to preserve and promote religious tolerance, Prime Minister Edi ...

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced plans to transform the Tirana-based Bektashi Muslims into a sovereign state. On Sunday, he spoke at the United Nations ...

The Bektashi Order will receive sovereignty identical to that of the Vatican, governing religious and administrative issues independently of Albania, the Order said.