Secularism in Turkey

According to at least one observer (Mustafa Akyol), under the Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, "hundreds of secularist officers and their civilian allies" were jailed starting in 2007, and by 2012 the "old secularist guard" were removed from positions of authority and replaced by members/supporters of the AKP and the Islamic Gülen movement.^[15] On 25 April 2016, the Turkish Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman told a conference of Islamic scholars and writers in Istanbul that "secularism would not have a place in a new constitution”, as Turkey is “a Muslim country and so we should have a religious constitution". (One of the duties of Parliament Speaker is to pen a new draft constitution for Turkey.)^[16]

Traditionally the function of the

In education, the Erdoğan AKP government has pursued the explicit policy agenda of Islamization to "raise a devout generation" against secular resistance,[21]^[22] in the process causing many non-religious citizens of Turkey to lose their jobs and schooling.^[23] Following the

Some (such as Turan Kayaoğlu) see interest and support of secularism in Turkey as strengthening, not decreasing.[29]^[30][31] After Erdoğan made the statement about his desire to "raise a religious youth," politicians of all parties condemned his statements as abandoning Turkish values. A petition reading "[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" was signed by over 2,000 people. The pro-government newspaper Bugün ran a story stating "no one has the right to convert this society into a religious one, or the opposite." Surveys of the Turkish people also show a great support for maintaining a secular country. The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation found that only 9% of Turks supported a religious state in 2006.^[29] A more recent 2015 poll by Metropoll found that over 80% of Turkish people supported the continuation of Turkey as a secular state, with even the majority of AKP voters supporting a secular state too.^[32]

Constitutional principles

The Constitution asserts that Turkey is supposed to be a

1. "secularism, social equality, equality before the law"
2. "the Republican form of government"
3. "
   the indivisibility of the Republic and of the Turkish Nation
   ",

The Constitution bans any proposals for the modification of these articles. Each of these concepts which were distributed in the three articles of the constitution can not be achieved without the other two concepts.^{[citation needed]} The constitution requires a central administration which would lose its meaning (effectiveness, coverage, etc.) if the system is not based on laïcité, social equality, and equality before law. Vice versa, if the Republic differentiate itself based on social, religious differences, administration can not be equal to the population when the administration is central.^{[citation needed]} The system which tried to be established in the constitution sets out to found a unitary nation-state based on the principles of secular democracy.^{[citation needed]}

Impact on society

The

In recent history, two parties have been ordered to close (Welfare Party in 1998, and Virtue Party in 2001) by the Constitutional Court for Islamist activities and attempts to "redefine the secular nature of the republic". The first party to be closed for suspected anti-secularist activities was the Progressive Republican Party on June 3, 1925.^{[citation needed]}

Issues relating to Turkey's secularism were discussed in the lead up to the 2007 presidential elections, in which the ruling party chose a candidate with Islamic connections, Abdullah Gül, for the first time in its secular republic. While some in Turkey have expressed concern that the nomination could represent a move away from Turkey's secularist traditions, including particularly Turkey's priority on equality between the sexes, others have suggested that the conservative party has effectively promoted modernization while reaching out to more traditional and religious elements in Turkish society.^[33][34] On July 22, 2007, it was reported that the more religiously conservative ruling party won a larger than expected electoral victory in the parliamentary elections.^[35]

Turkey's preservation and maintenance of its secular identity has been a profound issue and source of tension. Prime Minister