(AFP) In Albania’s capital, Baba Mondi envisions a Vatican-like state for his Bektashi faith on a tiny scrap of land that would serve as a model for love and tolerance.
Last year, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced plans to establish a sovereign Muslim microstate within the country’s borders run by the Sufi sect with roughly 100,000 members.
“Our state will be a really small spiritual and administrative state … but with a big heart,” the Bektashi leader told AFP in Tirana, draped in a white tunic and wearing a green jacket and cap, his face framed by a flowing white beard.
“The whole world will be able to see the light of the Bektashis.”
