{"id":16818,"date":"2012-04-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brookings.alley.test\/research\/secularism-in-turkey-stronger-than-ever\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T14:08:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T14:08:12","slug":"secularism-in-turkey-stronger-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/opinion\/secularism-in-turkey-stronger-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Secularism in Turkey: Stronger than Ever?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Massive uproar in Turkey over the government\u2019s role in religious education shows that despite fears the nation is on the verge of abandoning its secular past, a version of secularism has actually gained<\/em> traction in Turkey, even among pro-Islamic conservative elites.<\/p>\n

Controversy began last month when an opposition deputy from the Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP) filed a lawsuit against a new regulation aiming to level the playing field for students of the Turkish imam-hatip<\/em> (a type of secondary school with a religious curriculum along with the standard curriculum) in university exams. Turkey\u2019s powerful Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2014an imam-hatip graduate\u2014responded to the lawsuit January 31, stating that his government wants to \u201craise a religious youth.\u201d Within a week, Turkish secularists and conservatives alike had hurled a barrage of criticism at the Prime Minister, accusing him of abandoning secularism and dangerously meddling with religion.<\/p>\n

For secularists, Erdo\u011fan\u2019s statement was a revelation of his true colors. The leader of CHP called him a \u201creligion-monger,\u201d and the staunchly secular teachers union E\u011fitim-Sen<\/em> claimed Erdo\u011fan had for the first time publicly admitted his hidden agenda. Criticism also proved rampant in academic circles, which put forth a petition within 24 hours of Erdo\u011fan\u2019s statement.\u00a0 Signed by over 2,000 individuals, it reads: \u201c[O]f Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Alawite, Shafi’i, religious and nonreligious, atheist and agnostic backgrounds, all joined with a firm belief in secularism, [we] find your recent remarks about raising a religious and conservative youth most alarming and dangerous.\u201d Each of these statements reflects liberal beliefs, which argue that a state policy to raise a religious youth is undemocratic, let alone impractical because millions of Turkish people have embraced secular lifestyles for decades.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most biting criticisms of Erdo\u011fan\u2019s remark were accusations of hypocrisy based on the contrast between his statement on January 31 and one he made on Egyptian TV last September, when he stated: \u201cAs Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan I am a Muslim but not secular. But I am a prime minister of a secular country. People have the freedom to choose whether or not to be religious in a secular regime.\u201d This statement, representative of Erdo\u011fan\u2019s long-standing political tendency toward secularism, renders his recent statement seemingly contradictory.<\/p>\n

While opposition from secular and liberal corners was expected, more surprising was similar opposition in pro-Islamic media. In pro-government Bug\u00fcn<\/em>, columnist G\u00fclay G\u00f6kt\u00fcrk noted, \u201cThese words did not befit Erdo\u011fan at all.\u201d She continued: \u201cno one has the right to convert this society into a religious one, or the opposite.\u201d In Zaman,<\/em> the leading conservative daily, commentator Tamer Cetin asserted that because of the diversity of religious interpretations, focus should be on common ethical values, not religious ones. Further, regular columnist M\u00fcmtaz\u2019er T\u00fcrk\u00f6ne said raising a religious youth is actually dangerous for religion, as formal and public indoctrination would cheapen a religion which requires intimate and private connection to God. All argued that religious education should be left to civil society and parents\u2019 demands.<\/p>\n

This overwhelming consensus among elites reflects a broader trend in Turkey, whereby religious segments of Turkish society have increasingly accepted secularism throughout the rule of the Justice and Development Party (JDP), which Erdo\u011fan heads. According to a study conducted by the left-leaning Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), despite the relatively stable level of religiosity in Turkey, the percentage of people who want a religious state has actually plummeted from 25% in 1996 to 9% in 2006. And a recent poll conducted by Konsensus Research concluded that only 34% approved of Erdo\u011fan\u2019s January 31 statement.<\/p>\n

While Turkey\u2019s religious communities are deeply interested in raising a religious generation and society, they object to this becoming a state policy. For these religious groups, secularism appears to constitute not secularization of behavior or society, but rather secularization of state law and policy, such that religious education is conditioned on parents\u2019 choices. Pro-Islamic conservatives\u2019 overwhelming preference for civil society to supply religious-based education implicates they have grown to accept the separation of state and religion.<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s widespread secular consensus forced Erdo\u011fan to make a rare political retreat. On February 6, he accused critics of misinterpreting his statement, and reaffirmed a commitment to liberty and democracy. He further asserted that his government would not impose any policy against the people\u2019s wishes.\u00a0\u00a0 Therefore, not only is the public majority\u2019s consensus on secular government undeniable, but so too is the strength of the majority\u2019s voice as Turkey\u2019s politics move forward.<\/p>\n

In a time when the Arab uprisings have brought Islamists to the power, Turkish religious groups\u2019 embrace of secularism during rule by a pro-Islamic party shows growing consensus around secularism in Turkey. Whether or not the same will happen in newly formed governments of other Arab countries under majority-Islamist rule is yet to be seen, but growing factionalism in groups such as Egypt\u2019s Muslim Brotherhood suggests the Turkish trend may be upheld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-16818","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion\/16818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opinion"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}