ALEVİ/BEKTAŞİ GELENEĞİNDE DEDELİK KURUMU “SİVAS KANGAL TÜRKMEN ALEVİLERİ ÖRNEĞİ” [THE INSTUTION OF DEDE IN ALEVI/BEKTASHI TRADITION: SAMPLE OF TURKOMAN ALEVIS IN KANGAL, SIVAS]

“Dedelik”(elderly- grandfathers) institution occupies a vital place in Alevi-Bektashi tradition. “Dede” is at the center of all social, cultural and religious life. ”Dedelik” is the main authority where the difficult living conditions of Kizilbash Alevi Turkmen residing in the villages and where all the problems encountered in nomadic life before the settled life were resolved. In traditional social structure, social and individual relationships are carried out in an efficient manner by“dedeler”. All moral, social, and religious problems in small village communities are also resolved by“dedeler. In traditional Alevi societies, a person gains his/her identity and personality with the help of dede. It is only after an Alevi reaches a certain age that comes in the presence of “dedeler” and participate in etiquette “cem”s, and only after they have attended the musahiplik (musical) ceremonies they gain the real identity of an Alevi. Furthermore, according to the standards of traditional Alevi communities, it is necessary to arrive at the presence of the“dede”(elder- grandfather) at least once in every 6 months. According to this belief, those who do not come to“dede”(elder- grandfather) in six months are regarded as outcast. As it is understood, an Alevi’s organic ties with the community are established by the“dede”(eldergrandfather). In the traditional Alevi’s social organization, the”dedeler” (elderly- grandfathers) are at the top. In this study, we examined the perspectives of the institutionalized traditional Alevi organizations of the Turkmen Alevis, who lived in the Kangal District of Sivas where the very rich religious and social manifestations of the Alevi culture existed, in terms of sociology of religion. We evaluated the hierarchical structure and functions of the Dedelik institution which constitutes the backbone of traditional Alevism organization