Nor has it heeded Alevi demands for their children to be exempted from compulsory religious-education classes that are dominated by Sunni Islam.

ECONOMIST: Turkey��s future

In a speech, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Sunni, accused the leader of the country's opposition, an Alevi, of being in sympathy with Syria's president.

WSJ: Turkey's Shiites Fear Contagion

The town is home to members of Turkey's Arab Alevi community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while many of the refugees who have fled Syria are Sunni.

NPR: Turkey Says It Won't Be Drawn Into Syria Conflict

Mr Kilicdaroglu is an Alevi.

ECONOMIST: Turkey's opposition