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.

The Bektashi Order’s name comes from Haji Bektash Veli, a 13th century Sufi mystic. The belief system evolved to become a tolerant, humanistic syncretic combination of Shia Islam, ...

Prime Minister Edi Rama says he wants to give members of the Bektashi, a Shiite Sufi order, their own Vatican-style enclave as a way of promoting religious tolerance.

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.

Bektashi Muslims make up about 10% of the Muslims in the country, according to the last census. It wasn't immediately clear how the order would legally be granted sovereignty.

If all goes to plan, the so-called "Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order" will become the world's smallest state, just a quarter of the size of Vatican City.

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.

An offshoot of the Sufi sect of Islam, the Bektashi Order was established in the 13th century, and combines "a loose interpretation of the Quran with mysticism, elements of Turkey's pre-Islamic ...

Bektashi Muslims make up about 10% of the Muslims in the country, according to the last census. It wasn’t immediately clear how the order would legally be granted sovereignty.

The Bektashi Order, making up about 10% of Albania’s Muslims, welcomed the move as a step toward global religious tolerance. The order planned to operate independently, similar to the Vatican.

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 ...