Albania plans Sufi Muslim microstate within its borders

Albania plans to establish a sovereign Muslim microstate within its borders run by a Sufi sect known for promoting "religious harmony and dialogue", Prime Minister Edi Rama announced.

The tiny Vatican-like enclave within Albania's capital Tirana will serve as the political home for Bektashi Muslims -- the fourth largest religious community in Albania after Sunni Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Catholics.

The order was founded in the 13th century in the Ottoman Empire and is regarded as a tolerant, mystic branch of Islam open to other religions and philosophies.

Some of its most important leaders relocated to Albania after being banned in Turkey in the early 20th century by modern Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

"Our inspiration is to support the transformation of the Bektashi World Centre in Tirana into a sovereign state, a new centre of moderation, tolerance and peaceful coexistence," Rama said on Sunday at the United Nations in New York.

The Bektashi make up an estimated 10 percent of the country's Muslim population, according to Albania's 2023 census.

The Bektashi Order in Tirana praised the decision.

"The sovereignty of the Bektashi Order is an important step in strengthening the values of inclusion, religious harmony and dialogue in an increasingly divided world," it said in a statement.

Citizenship of the new state of roughly 10 hectares (25 acres) will be limited to members of the clergy and individuals dealing with state administration.

Its government would be headed by the Bektashi's leader and a council that will oversee its religious and administrative functioning, the statement added.