Atatürk's Balancing Act: the Role of Secularism in Turkey
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Reconstruction of the Ja'fari Identity in Turkey
European Scientific Journal February 2015 edition vol.11, No.5 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 FROM MAIN COMPONENT TO EQUAL CITIZEN: RECONSTRUCTION OF THE JA’FARI IDENTITY IN TURKEY Baris Erdogan, PhD Assistant Professor of Sociology, Istanbul Gelisim University/Turkey Abstract The ethnic, sectarian, and political conflicts in Iraq and Syria serve as significant catalysts for Turkey’s Ja’faris to redefine their social identity. This article comprises a sociological analysis of the Ja’fari community who are predominantly Azeri Turks adhering to the Shiite sect. The article addresses the parameters they pursue in order to construct and position their own social identity in light of the developments in foreign and domestic politics in Turkey where the Sunni population constitutes the quantitative and political majority. Since the foundation of the secular Republic up until today, the establishment has pursued the policy of homogenizing citizens via its ideological apparatus based on Sunni Islam references. As a response, Ja’faris have been rebuilding their identity in tandem with the social changes. In order to integrate with the national policies and overcome the barriers that arise from sectarian differences, Ja’faris constantly underscore in the public sphere that they are the founding components of the nation as “Turks” and “Muslim”s. However, Turkey’s foreign and domestic politics during the conflicts in Iraq, and particularly in the post-Syrian crisis has engendered, citing the Ja’fari leader’s own words, a “shocking effect” within the Ja’fari community. Given the new state of affairs, Ja’faris are rebuilding the Ja’fari identity using a dual language: On one hand, they continue to highlight the “superior” Turkish and Muslim identity that is embraced by the unofficial state ideology, and on the other hand, they embark on a quest for a more civilian equal citizenship within social movements. -
Freedom of Religion in Turkey – the Alevi Issue
www.epc.eu 24 January 2014 01/12/2009 Freedom of religion in Turkey – The Alevi issue Amanda Paul and Demir Murat Seyrek Freedom of religion is a fundamental right that must be protected and respected by states. While Turkey has taken important steps in advancing religious freedoms over the last decade, a number of challenges remain. Turkey’s Alevi Community continues to face serious problems in terms of being officially recognised by the state and in practicing their religion. While Turkey is officially a secular country, Sunni Islam is the unofficial state religion. Despite Ankara being a signatory of several international conventions and treaties that guarantee fundamental freedoms for all, key fundamental rights of Alevis remain ignored by the state. Last September, hopes were raised that a new “democratisation package” would include steps to further their freedoms but it failed to do so, with the government announcing that a ‘special’ Alevi reform package would be unveiled by the end of 2013. This did not happen. Who are the Alevis? After Sunnis, Alevis constitute the second largest religious community in Turkey. While Alevism is frequently categorised under the Shia denomination of Islam, it is significantly different. While, as with Shia Muslims, Alevis consider the Prophet Mohammed’s descendants (12 Imams) as holy, they also see them as philosophic leaders. Philosophy, human development and humanist ideals are important cornerstones of the Alevi belief. Alevi, which means “follower of Ali”, attribute great significance to Sufism and the 12 Imams, with a unique importance given to Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. -
The Compatibility of Islam, Democracy and Secularism
THE COMPATIBILITY OF ISLAM, DEMOCRACY AND SECULARISM SÜLEYMAN DEMİREL His excellency Süleyman Demirel is President of the Republic of Turkey The Turkish modernisation was built on two main pillars; secularism and republicanism. It began during the Ottoman Empire and can be traced back to the XVIIIth Century. The Ottomans have always been in close relations with the cultural entity which we call “Western Civilisation”. In fact, the Ottoman Empire was founded first and foremost as a state located mainly in Europe. The modern Republic of Turkey came into being after an independence struggle, fought against the “West”. Nevertheless, immediately after the war, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the founding fathers of the Republic did not hesitate to turn their face to this very West. For, with a clear vision they concluded that “progress” meant being a part of the universal civilisation represented then by the West. Indeed, the Turkish revolution and its product, the Republic of Turkey, are the crowning result of the embracement of the ideals and thoughts that have gained world-wide acceptance following the Age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution, by a group of visionaries and idealists led by Atatürk. The Republic of Turkey is the product of a grand historic choice of a great nation. It was founded in the aftermath of the dissolution of a multi-national, multi-ethnic and multi-religious Empire. Along with Atatürk’s ultimate goal of reaching the highest level of universal civilisation, this historical choice can best be defined in the context of secularisation. The Turkish revolution and its secular republican model introduced radical institutional, cultural and legal reforms ranging from the executive and legislative realms to the public and private spheres. -
Freedom of Religion in Turkey – the Alevi Issue
www.epc.eu 24 January 2014 01/12/2009 Freedom of religion in Turkey – The Alevi issue Amanda Paul and Demir Murat Seyrek Freedom of religion is a fundamental right that must be protected and respected by states. While Turkey has taken important steps in advancing religious freedoms over the last decade, a number of challenges remain. Turkey’s Alevi Community continues to face serious problems in terms of being officially recognised by the state and in practicing their religion. While Turkey is officially a secular country, Sunni Islam is the unofficial state religion. Despite Ankara being a signatory of several international conventions and treaties that guarantee fundamental freedoms for all, key fundamental rights of Alevis remain ignored by the state. Last September, hopes were raised that a new “democratisation package” would include steps to further their freedoms but it failed to do so, with the government announcing that a ‘special’ Alevi reform package would be unveiled by the end of 2013. This did not happen. Who are the Alevis? After Sunnis, Alevis constitute the second largest religious community in Turkey. While Alevism is frequently categorised under the Shia denomination of Islam, it is significantly different. While, as with Shia Muslims, Alevis consider the Prophet Mohammed’s descendants (12 Imams) as holy, they also see them as philosophic leaders. Philosophy, human development and humanist ideals are important cornerstones of the Alevi belief. Alevi, which means “follower of Ali”, attribute great significance to Sufism and the 12 Imams, with a unique importance given to Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. -
The Relations Between Islam and Secularism: the Impact on Social Behavior in Turkey
International Education Studies; Vol. 9, No. 8; 2016 ISSN 1913-9020 E-ISSN 1913-9039 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education The Relations between Islam and Secularism: The Impact on Social Behavior in Turkey Nik Ahmad Hisham Ismail1 & Mustafa Tekke1 1 Department of Psychology and Counseling, Faculty of Education, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Correspondence: Mustafa Tekke, Department of Psychology and Counseling, Faculty of Education, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: [email protected] Received: February 29, 2016 Accepted: March 31, 2016 Online Published: July 26, 2016 doi:10.5539/ies.v9n8p66 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ies.v9n8p66 Abstract Secularism as central to society and human life may bring undesired negative consequences in Muslim societies. Increasing social problems among juveniles in Turkey raised questions regarding the right personality development and education of young people. In extending further analysis, we conducted semi-structured interview with experts to assess the level of Turkish personality and impact of Said Nursi, who is a very influential Islamic scholar in Turkish society and to the Islamic movement in general. This study implies that education integrated with Islamic belief and practice will be more influential to educate Turkish Muslims, rather than secular based teaching. This result will be a guideline for educationists and counselors. In future study, developing a personality scale integrated with belief and practice will be beneficial to Muslim communities. Keywords: secularism, Islam, personality, Turkey, Said Nursi 1. Introduction Although Islam and secularism are obviously opposite concepts, they might be some common issues to consider them as a similar. -
Religious Pluralism and Religion-State Relations in Turkey
religions Article Religious Pluralism and Religion-State Relations in Turkey H. ¸SuleAlbayrak Department of Sociology of Religion, Faculty of Theology, Marmara University, Mahir Iz˙ Cad. No. 2, Üsküdar, Istanbul 34662, Turkey; [email protected] or [email protected] Received: 7 November 2018; Accepted: 16 January 2019; Published: 18 January 2019 Abstract: In this article, I examine religion-state relations and religious pluralism in Turkey in terms of recent changes in the religious landscape. I propose that there is a growing trend in the religious sphere that has resulted in a proliferation of religions, sects and spiritual approaches in Turkey. I argue that although the religious market model might not be applicable to the Turkish religious sphere during the republican era until the 2000s due to the restrictions applied by the state’s authoritarian secularist policies, it is compatible with today’s changing society. Different religious groups as well as spiritual movements have used the democratization process of the 2000s in Turkey as an opportunity to proselytize various faiths and understandings of Islam, with both traditional and modernist forms. In this period, new religious movements have also appeared. Thus, the Turkish religious landscape has recently become much more complicated than it was two decades earlier. I plan for this descriptive work firstly to provide an insight into the history of religious pluralism and state policies in Turkey. Secondly, I will discuss the religious policies of the republican period and, thirdly, I will evaluate recent developments such as the increasing number of approaches in the religious sphere within the scope of the religious market model. -
Religion and Secularism in Turkey SERIF MARDIN
I Religion and secularism in Turkey SERIF MARDIN Few categorical assertions can be made in the social sciences, but certainly one of them is that social thought never starts with a clean slate. The contributions of social innovators, therefore, become fully meaningful only when their proposals are set in the framework of their institutional and intellectual inheritance. This also holds true for a series of reforms which were carried out in Turkey in the 1920s and the 1930s, due in large measure to the single-minded drive and determination of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the architect of the Turkish Republic and its first president. These reforms established the principle of Jaicism - or secularism - as the foundation stone of Turkish constitutional theory and political life. The principle has endured to our day despite changes in regimes and constitutional renovation. Laicism was a concept which emerged from French constitutional practice in the nineteenth century and referred to the necessity that the state refrain from lending its positive support to any one religious denomination. It was considered to have been fully achieved in France in 1905 with the definitive separation of Church and State. In Turkey, laicism amounted to more than the official disestablishment of religion, since Muslims did not dispose of an autonomous religious institution such as the Catholic Church which could carry its religious functions independently of the state. In France, religion and the state already operated on two distinct institutional registers and were eventually separated in the Jaw of the land. In Turkey a limb of the state was torn out of its body when Jaicism became the state policy. -
Science Versus Religion: the Influence of European Materialism on Turkish Thought, 1860-1960
Science versus Religion: The Influence of European Materialism on Turkish Thought, 1860-1960 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Serdar Poyraz, M.A. Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2010 Dissertation Committee: Carter V. Findley, Advisor Jane Hathaway Alan Beyerchen Copyright By Serdar Poyraz 2010 i Abstract My dissertation, entitled “Science versus Religion: The Influence of European Materialism on Turkish Thought, 1860-1960,” is a radical re-evaluation of the history of secularization in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. I argue that European vulgar materialist ideas put forward by nineteenth-century intellectuals and scientists such as Ludwig Büchner (1824-1899), Karl Vogt (1817-1895) and Jacob Moleschott (1822-1893) affected how Ottoman and Turkish intellectuals thought about religion and society, ultimately paving the way for the radical reforms of Kemal Atatürk and the strict secularism of the early Turkish Republic in the 1930s. In my dissertation, I challenge traditional scholarly accounts of Turkish modernization, notably those of Bernard Lewis and Niyazi Berkes, which portray the process as a Manichean struggle between modernity and tradition resulting in a linear process of secularization. On the basis of extensive research in modern Turkish, Ottoman Turkish and Persian sources, I demonstrate that the ideas of such leading westernizing and secularizing thinkers as Münif Pasha (1830-1910), Beşir Fuad (1852-1887) and Baha Tevfik (1884-1914) who were inspired by European materialism provoked spirited religious, philosophical and literary responses from such conservative anti-materialist thinkers as Şehbenderzade ii Ahmed Hilmi (1865-1914), Said Nursi (1873-1960) and Ahmed Hamdi Tanpınar (1901- 1962). -
Are Turkey's Restrictions on Freedom of Religion Or Belief Permissible?
Religion Religion and Human Rights 15 (2020) 172–191 Human Rights brill.com/rhrs Are Turkey’s Restrictions on Freedom of Religion or Belief Permissible? Mine Yıldırım Norwegian Helsinki Committee [email protected] Abstract This article constitutes a summary of the findings of an inquiry into the utilization of the restriction clause of freedom of religion or belief in the course of restriction of this right in Turkey. It demonstrates that FoRB is restricted in various ways by public au- thorities which rarely involve a systematic application of the FoRB restriction clause. Despite Turkey’s human rights obligations in the area of freedom of religion or belief and the high status conferred to international human rights law under Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution the impact of international provisions on the protection of FoRB in Turkey remains insufficient and inconsistent. The right to freedom of religion or belief has been restricted through measures based on “established practice”, decisions of public authorities based on laws and regulations not directly dealing with this right and court decisions that are not in full compliance with international law. Keywords Turkey – freedom of religion or belief – limitations 1 Introduction Since the early 2000s individuals and religious/belief communities have in- creasingly brought their cases to domestic and international human rights compliance control mechanisms with respect to Turkey’s most deeply root- ed freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) issues. This trend may be indicative of a desire to achieve change through law. However, whether change may be achieved through law remains a question since even domestic court decisions © Mine Yıldırım, 2020 | doi:10.1163/18710328-bja10010 Downloaded from Brill.com10/05/2021 09:18:30AM This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the cc by-nc 4.0 license. -
Freedom of Religion and Non-Muslim Minorities in Turkey
FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND NON-MUSLIM MINORITIES IN TURKEY Freedom of religion has been a delicate issue since the founding of the Turkish Republic despite the principle of secularism stated in its constitution. After decades marked by assaults towards non-Muslims in Turkey and confiscation of their properties, several reform packages were adopted by the Turkish government in order better to secure their religious freedoms. This essay focuses on the motives behind and the limitations of the transformation of religious freedoms in Turkey over the last decade. The author argues that the incumbent AKP’s religious friendly approach, while flexible, is ultimately grounded in Islamic superiority, and therefore remains limiting. Anna Maria Beylunioğlu* Winter 2015 * Anna Maria Beylunioğlu is a PhD candidate at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the European University Institute, Florence, Italy. 139 VOLUME 13 NUMBER 4 ANNA MARIA BEYLUNİOĞLU reedom of religion has remained a delicate issue since the founding of the Turkish Republic, its delicacy being closely related to the state’s conventional approach towards religion and its place in society. Turkey F was built around the principle of secularism; yet, activities of religious groups and individuals have remained restricted not only in political but also in social and sometimes even in private spheres. Yet, the state continued to control religion through the Directorate of Religious Affairs (DRA), a bureaucratic organization sit- uated under the Prime Minister’s Office. This organization not only reflected state control over religion, but also, at the expense of contradicting the ideal of secularism, reinforced a version of Hanafi/Sunni Islam and excluded non-Muslim faiths and other denominations of Islam, which remained outside “state Islam.” Arguably this state-led policy towards religion has had its most negative effect on the non-Muslim minorities of Turkey. -
Journal of Law and Religion ALEVIS UNDER LAW: the POLITICS OF
Journal of Law and Religion http://journals.cambridge.org/JLR Additional services for Journal of Law and Religion: Email alerts: Click here Subscriptions: Click here Commercial reprints: Click here Terms of use : Click here ALEVIS UNDER LAW: THE POLITICS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN TURKEY Elizabeth Shakman Hurd Journal of Law and Religion / FirstView Article / October 2014, pp 1 - 20 DOI: 10.1017/jlr.2014.18, Published online: 10 October 2014 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0748081414000186 How to cite this article: Elizabeth Shakman Hurd ALEVIS UNDER LAW: THE POLITICS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN TURKEY. Journal of Law and Religion, Available on CJO 2014 doi:10.1017/jlr.2014.18 Request Permissions : Click here Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/JLR, IP address: 170.140.105.66 on 20 Oct 2014 Journal of Law and Religion (2014), page 1 of 20 © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University doi:10.1017/jlr.2014.18 SYMPOSIUM: RE-THINKING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM alevis under law: the politics of religious freedom in turkey elizabeth shakman hurd Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University abstract Proponents of minority rights are calling for urgent measures to protect the Copts in Egypt, the Ahmadiyya in Pakistan, and the Baha’i in Iran to secure religious diversity, shield minority popu- lations from discriminatory practices, and prevent the outbreak of religious violence. State govern- ments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and international tribunals promote religious liberalization as the antidote to the violence and discord that is often attributed to these divisions. Enshrined in international agreements and promoted by a small army of experts and authorities, legal protections for religious minorities are heralded as the solution to the chal- lenges of living with social and religious diversity. -
Religion As a Factor Influencing Turkish Women's Decisions to Work Mary Lou O’Neil
Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 14 | Issue 3 Article 12 Jul-2013 Religion as a Factor Influencing Turkish Women's Decisions to Work Mary Lou O’Neil Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation O’Neil, Mary Lou and Bilgin, Mehmet Huseyin (2013). Religion as a Factor Influencing Turkish Women's Decisions to Work. Journal of International Women's Studies, 14(3), 163-173. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol14/iss3/12 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2013 Journal of International Women’s Studies. Religion as a Factor Influencing Turkish Women’s Decisions to Work By Mary Lou O’Neil1 and Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin2 Abstract This article uses survey data collected from more than 500 women in Istanbul to examine whether or not religion exerts an influence on women’s decisions to work or not. Our work revealed that religion does not appear to have a direct impact on whether or not Turkish women choose to work. Rather the expectation that women fulfill their traditional roles as caregivers proves a greater obstacle for women who wish to enter the labor market. Religion, in the case of Turkey, Islam, can only be seen as an influence on Turkish women’s work decisions to the extent that it supports “patriarchal mentalities” which define women first and foremost as mothers and caregivers.