Virtual kinship in various religious groups: The case of kirvelik

The institution of kirvelik, which is an example of social and economic unity and social solidarity, has been maintained in Turkey, Iraq and Syria from past to present. The institution of kirvelik has a very important place in our society together with the institution of family. Although different ethnic, religious or social groups attribute different meanings to the institution of kirvelik in our society, there is a general agreement on the framework definition. Kirvelik is a virtual kinship established as a result of someone outside the family making more effort than the family in the circumcision or marriage of the male child and taking more responsibility in material or moral terms. The institution of kirvelik, which is a symbol of friendship and unity of power between families in the historical background, contains many economic, political, legal, cultural, social and religious elements. The institution of kirvelik, which emerged in societies based on agricultural culture in connection with circumcision, which is a religious obligation, has made families, which could be considered weak alone in periods when technology was not developed and manual labour was relatively valuable, stronger both economically and socially. It has enabled people belonging to different languages, religions, ethnic origins and tribes to live together in peace and tranquility, to establish kinship other than blood relatives, and to provide social capital in difficult times. Although the survivors of this ancient tradition have decreased with social change, it is one of the customs that still continues to exist in our country, especially in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Regions... It is very important to go into the historical origins of an institution that has gained such an important place in the memory of the society. Therefore, in this study, it is aimed to investigate and reveal the origin and historical development of the kirvelik institution in depth, to determine the social functions of the kirvelik institution today, and to evaluate the religious phenomena underlying the kirvelik institution from a sociological perspective.