Mehves Lelic is a professional photographer and writer from Istanbul. She is traveling throughout Eastern Europe to shed light on the history and everyday life of the Bektashis, an Islamic religious order that has faced persecution and extreme challenges throughout the turmoil of the region’s last century. Bektashi spirituality may appear most crystallized in the...

Mehves Lelic is a professional photographer and writer from Istanbul. She is traveling throughout Eastern Europe to shed light on the history and everyday life of the Bektashis, an Islamic religious order that has faced persecution and extreme challenges throughout the turmoil of the region’s last century.  Baba Husni shows up in a dark-green 4×4. The roaring is faint...

Mehves Lelic is a professional photographer and writer from Istanbul. She is traveling throughout Eastern Europe to shed light on the history and everyday life of the Bektashis, an Islamic religious order that has faced persecution and extreme challenges throughout the turmoil of the region’s last century.  Forty years ago, while being a member of the Bektashi order was...

Mehves Lelic is a professional photographer and writer from Istanbul. She is traveling throughout Eastern Europe to shed light on the history and everyday life of the Bektashis, an Islamic religious order that has faced persecution and extreme challenges throughout the turmoil of the region’s last century.  This chilly afternoon, Dervish Muttalib, the only remaining dervish living and serving...

In the remote mountains of Albania, followers of a mystical Sufi order are reemerging from the shadows of communism—and inviting the world in. National Geographic Young Explorers Grantee Mehves Lelic reports in words and photos. Days With Derwish On the dewy morning of January 24, the fog has finally lifted and we can see the...