Alevi understandings of Ali range from intense reverence to frankly mystical and metaphorical language about divine manifestation, and Alevis themselves differ on how far such expressions are to be read literally. The tradition's distinctive worship, its de-emphasis of the outward law in favour of inner meaning (linking it to the batin), and its veneration of the family of the Prophet set it apart from Sunni Islam and give it a character that some describe as a distinct tradition rather than a school within Islam. This article describes Alevi devotion as Alevis express it.
Turkey's official religious authority, the Diyanet, has historically recognised and funded only Sunni mosques and clergy, treating Alevism as a cultural current within Islam rather than a faith requiring its own state-supported houses of worship or clergy; cemevis were long denied the legal status, utilities concessions, and funding given to mosques. The European Court of Human Rights, in its Grand Chamber judgment in Izzettin Dogan and Others v.
Turkey (26 April 2016), ruled that this differential treatment breached the applicants' freedom of religion, and Turkish authorities subsequently created a Presidency of Alevi Bektashi Culture and Cemevis, though many in the Alevi community argue the changes fall well short of full institutional recognition equal to that given the Sunni majority.