(Reuters) Albania will create a sovereign Muslim state in Tirana for the Bektashi religious order, along the lines of the Vatican in Rome, to preserve and promote religious tolerance, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Saturday.
If created, the enclave for the Islamic Sufi order would be one of the world’s smallest states, and would have its own administration but no taxation or police and would not challenge the sovereignty of Albania, Rama said.
“The history of the Bektashi is in itself an imposing call to give the holy seat of the Bektashi World Center a status similar to that of the Vatican,” Rama said during a ceremony to mark the 95th anniversary of the move of the holy seat to Albania from Turkey.
