[Report: "Tarikat Plans To Fill Vacuum Created by PKK"]

The Haznevi Tarikat's [sect] main headquarters is in Syria. However, it has nearly 100,000 followers in Turkey.

Daily Vatan columnist Mustafa Mutlu published a photograph in his column yesterday. It was taken at the Ataturk Airport. It depicted a group of people, who wore religious gowns and turbans, standing in line while waiting to welcome their shaykh, Muhammad Muta.

Who is Muta? He is the head of which tarikat? Those questions have been answered by a report that has been drawn up by the security units.

According to the research that has been carried out by the intelligence units, the Haznevi Tarikat strengthened in southeastern Turkey. It used the vacuum that existed after PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured and the Hezbollah organization was crushed to strengthen its structure.

The tarikat is believed to be one of the strongest Naksibendi organizations among the Kurds in Turkey. It is based in Syria. When Muhammad Haznevi died in 2005, the news reports said that thousands of his followers in Turkey wanted to attend his funeral. Muhammad Muta Haznevi succeeded his father as the shaykh of the tarikat.

According to the intelligence reports, the organization has about 100,000 followers in Turkey. One of the most important aspects of the tarikat is that it does not get involved in politics and says that it is not opposed to secularism.

Who is Shaykh Muhammad Muta?

Shaykh Muta, head of the Haznevi Tarikat, lives in Tel-Maruf in Syria. He established relations with wealthy families [in Turkey] when his daughter married one of the influential members of the Aktas Tribe in Nusaybin. That helped him to get his tarikat reorganized.

Originally published by Vatan website, Istanbul, in Turkish 12 Jul 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring European. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Story Source: BBC Monitoring European