An esoteric Muslim Vatican could become the world’s next country

Bektashis make up a minuscule percentage of the Muslim population; estimates of the total number of Bektashis vary widely from 7 million to 20 million.

Despite their small number, the Bektashis are set to form the world’s newest country — a first-of-its-kind Islamic microstate in Tirana, the capital of Albania.

Origins and influence of Bektashism

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, Christianity, and pre-Anatolic religions. It gained prominence as the official religion of the Janissaries, the Ottoman Empire’s elite infantry made up of enslaved Christian boys from the Balkans. Many Albanians converted to Bektashism, helped along by its lax approach to rituals and religious tolerance.

After Sultan Mahmud II crushed the Janissaries in 1826, he launched an empire-wide crackdown on the faith. The organization survived in Albania and rural areas of Anatolia until it was banished from the latter in 1925 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the secular founder of the modern Republic of Turkey. The faith’s headquarters moved to Albania.

The order found itself persecuted once again after World War II when the communists took power under dictator Enver Hoxha. All religions were persecuted under the new state atheist country, sending Bektashism underground. The fall of communism in the 1990s brought Bektashism back into the light and back into the good graces of the public.

The head of the Bektashi Order, Baba Mondi, claims 50% of Albania is Bektashi – the true total is around 5%. What isn’t in dispute is the religion’s widespread popularity in Albania, enjoying good relations with Catholics (8.4% of Albanians), Orthodox Christians (7.2%), and orthodox Muslims (45.9%). Bektashism is commonly held up as a symbol of Albania’s religious tolerance and good works, often praised alongside Albanian Catholic Saint Mother Teresa.

Part of their popularity stems from their key role in the development of Albanian nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries, according to Professor Ayfer Karakaya-Stump, an expert on Bektashism who works with the Midwest Alevi Cultural Center. Mondi served as an officer in the Albanian People’s Army for nearly a decade.

Bektashis are especially unique among Muslims for their lax social beliefs, such as their acceptance of alcohol consumption. They speak highly of all other religions, have a good relationship with Israel, decry all violence, and shun politics. Despite its adherents’ small numbers, Bektashism is often called Albania’s only true “national religion.”

It’s little wonder, then, that the biggest backer to grant them their own country is Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, a lapsed Catholic. He announced the planned creation of the state in a United Nations speech on Sept. 21, 2024.

“Albania may be a small country, but it has given the world good examples. We have shown it with the Jews, with the Afghans, we have given the world the youngest saint, Mother Teresa, whose life embodied love for humanity, reminded us that not all of us can do great things, but we can do little things with great love. This is the principle that Albania stands for, this is what we want to act with, this is the source of our inspiration, to support the transformation of the Center of the Bektashi World Order, into a sovereign state within Tirana, as a new center of union and peaceful tolerance,” he said.

A more cynical reading of Rama’s move is a bid to counter his poor image internationally.

If created, the Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order would swipe the title from Vatican City as the world’s smallest country. It would be several times smaller than its Catholic peer.

Bektashis are also closely linked with Alevis, a syncretic heterodox Islamic ethno-religious group, largely residing in Turkey. The Alevis are mainly Çelebî, who believe Veli, the original Bektashi mystic, had biological descendants, while the Albanian Bektashis belong to the Babagan branch, who believe he was celibate. Relations between the two are complex.

Becoming a state

Though Rama showed his support, becoming the world’s next country is a complicated matter.

In 2025, several sizable territories with their own governments, military, and social services aren’t recognized as states. These are nearly all secessionist states that are still claimed by their parent nation, such as South Ossetia and North Abkhazia in Georgia and Transnistria in Moldova – all of which enjoy the backing of Russia. Kosovo enjoys the recognition of much of the Western world but is still claimed by Serbia.

While the exact definition of what makes a state is complicated, universal or near-universal recognition is a good litmus test. The Sovereign State of the Bektashi World Order’s first challenge will be gaining widespread recognition. This will be an easier task than the aforementioned countries, as its territory is being willingly offered up by its host country. It is also likely to enjoy the backing of the world’s largest superpower.

“Extremely high. I don’t see why we won’t,” columnist and foreign policy expert Michael Szanto replied when asked if the U.S. would recognize the new state. “They’re a really good friend to us and Israel. They’re a really good friend of Europe as well… They are a very proud, happy member of NATO.”

He added that Albania even fought off Soviet influence during the Cold War, though only to become more isolationist.

Another ally on shakier grounds with the U.S., Turkey, could give much-desired recognition to the Bektashi state. Though Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is often viewed as a Sunni hard-liner, he’s moved to give the group greater freedom and recognition within Turkey, Szanto said.

Karakaya-Stump, the professor, said Turkey’s approach is hard to guess, with two conflicting political impulses at play. Alevis make up anywhere from 10-20% of Turkey and mainly subscribe politically to secular nationalism or secular leftism, putting them at odds with Erdogan’s religious nationalism. Their beliefs make them some of Erdogan’s main domestic opposition, with the president often wielding sectarian attacks against them. In some cases, the president has described protests where Alevis are present as Alevi uprisings in order to isolate them from the Sunni majority, Karakaya-Stump said.

On one hand, Erdogan’s hostility to the Alevis could push Turkey to advocate against a representative for them on the international stage. But Karakaya-Stump echoed another theory, that the establishment of a Bektashi state could be a way to expand Ankara’s influence in the Balkans.

Karakaya-Stump said the “Turkish government, in its foreign policy vis-à-vis the Balkans, highlights the Turkish past of the Balkans. They are trying to appropriate these Bektashi historical sites as a Turkish, Ottoman heritage.”

However, the Bektashi state could wield its influence in another way that’s been floated by some analysts. The Alevis have found a sympathetic cause in the plight of the Syrian Alawites, another heterodox Islamic group subject to persecution by the Sunni majority. After the fall of the Assad government on Dec. 8, the populace has been subjected to persecution and pogroms, such as the mass killings in March. Turkey is the biggest supporter of the new government.

Only states can bring another state forward to the International Court of Justice, leading some to speculate that the Bektashi state could level a case of human rights abuses against Damascus.

The battle for recognition is likely to be decided in the Muslim world, with other large Muslim powers including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia playing a key role. Iran, which could oppose the country on religious grounds, could just be ignored altogether.

According to Szanto, the U.S. “might not even care if Iran opposed it. But if key players in the Muslim world, from even Pakistan… and key figures in the Muslim world who are reasonably mainstream positive figures, do not oppose this, I certainly don’t see why we would oppose it when it’s being sponsored by a country that is very friendly to the United States and to NATO.”

Szanto was dismissive of worries that the small state could become a tax haven or vehicle for money laundering. He argued that business interests would view the manipulation of a religious group as too great a risk.

“It would not be something that a major American or European or Asian company is likely to do, because … if you were listed on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, or London Stock Exchange, you would face major backlash. It would be seen as very shady,” he said.

“If their plan to be recognized in the UN was successful, it would not be a viable conduit for money laundering or a tax haven because it would be too readily fixed by major economies around the world. And by that I mean largely legislation and then also executive action,” Szanto added.

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Szanto outlined a way in which Bektashis could exercise outsize influence, though they make up just a tiny fraction of Muslims, comparing them to the Catholic Jesuits or Chabad movement within Orthodox Judaism. In both cases, the small group exercises far greater influence beyond their numbers, with many non-Catholics going to Jesuit schools for a good education. The Bektashi state could exert a similar kind of influence.

“I think that even Muslims who may not want to accept the religious teachings of this group could still be inspired by the positive, peaceful, multidenominational aspects, the idea of bridging the divide between different religions and embracing different cultures and religions,” he argued.