Turkey_Secularism and Politics | polstudentexchange

Policy Exploration in Turkey

--Secularism (the relationship between religion and state) and Politics in Turkey

Turkey is an Islamic country in which nearly 98 percentage of its citizens are Muslims. Islam plays a very important and influential role in the daily life of Turkish people, but it is not a state religion. Turkey is a democratic and secular state.

Not all Turkish women wearing the headscarf in public

Turkish women strive for gender equality

Turkish women demonstrate and shout slogans

According to its constitution, “everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religious belief and conviction” and “no one shall be allowed to exploit or abuse religion or religious feelings… for the purpose of personal or political influence, or for even partially basing the fundamental social, economic, political and legal order of the State on religious tenets."

However, there is no strict separation of religion and the state in Turkey. For example, the government controls religious affairs and a great number of the Islamic clergy are civil servants and receive their salary from the government budget. Religious teaching is also tolerated in public schools.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the national father of Turkey, has great influence on Turkish politics. He introduced secularism into Turkey. He regarded secularism as a reformist thought and progressive idea to transform Turkey to a modern state. The idea of secularism covers not just the political and governmental life but also the social and cultural context.

By M. Hakan Yavuz (2009)

Ed. By Ahmet T. Kuru and Alfred Stephan (2012)

The military plays an important role in Turkish politics. The army has intervened several times in recent Turkish history.

The Coup of 27h May 1960

The army leaders claimed that they had to take over the political situation so as to end the exploitation of religion for political purposes.

Another army intervention in 12 September 1980

The main reason given was “to establish a solid and healthy democracy and to eliminate the destructive forces which were trying to divide Turkey and were endangering the very essence of the principles of Atatürk’s republic.” Bülent DAVER (Available at http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/42/451/5082.pdf)

Internationally, Turkey has been a traditional ally of US. For many decades, Turkey wants to join the EU. Its accession has been supported by Britain and France but Germany is its major opponent.

-By YEUNG Chun Chi, Ken (BSSPSA)

Exchange Study at Bilkent University, Turkey

2012/13 Semester B