The Implementation of Secularism in Muslim-Majority Turkey

The Implementation of Secularism in Muslim-Majority Turkey

A.    Problem statement

There are many countries that implement secularism as the principle of the country, which the country separates the government institution from the religious institution. One of the embodiment of secularism is defining the right to be free from religious teaching and rule or a country asserted to be neutral on matter of belief.

Turkey as a Muslim majority country has been recognized as a secular country. Since Turkey become a secular country, it has faced several problems, especially for Muslims who exercise their religious teachings in public. The Muslim has problem for practicing their religious value such as for the Muslim women, they are not allowed to wear scarf or hijab to cover their hair and religious teachings are controlled by the government such as imam. Imam can teach the religious things only in summer to the children who are elder than 15 years old.

Turkey as secular country face many challenges in reforming Turkey as secular country based on the party that lead Turkey in the government. This term effect Turkey in many aspects such as in education, public policy, political system and many more.

In this research, we want to know about the Implementation of secularism in Turkey as Muslim Majority country.

B.     Research questions

·         How does the implementation of secularism in Turkey?

·         How does the people of Turkey react to secularism policy?

·         Does secularism bring development to the country?

C.    Justification for the study

Secularism (separation of state and religion) is the result and the cause of Atatürk’s reforms carried out mainly in the years 1922-1935. Secularism in Turkey appeared, at the beginning, as a movement which aimed at curbing the supremacy of the Islamic religion which was very strong in political, cultural and social life. The State still controls religious affairs and even organizes it as a department embodied in the general administration. A great number of imams (“Islamic clergy”) are civil servants and receive their salary from the government budget. Certainly this is incompatible with the principle of secularism as understood and applied in western countries. Turkish reformers knew well that the Turkish secular state was a kind of “absolutism”. But to adopt a complete secularism, at this stage, meant according to them, to endanger the reforms and to restore the old theocratic state with all its fanaticism and superstitions. Since the religious elements were so strong in the social structure of Turkey it was almost impossible for the state to be able to apply a broad secularism and to secure a complete religious freedom to all. (Daver, 2013)

D.    The significance of the study

·         To understand the implementation of Secularism in Turkey

By doing this research we are expected to know more and have better understanding about the implementation of secularism in Turkey. Since, there were challenges about the implementation of secularism in terms of changing the way of life as well as religious practices among the society. (Misirloglu, 1991)

·         To analyse the implementation of secularism in Turkey

By doing this research we want to analyse the implementation of secularism in Turkey in the past and contemporary. Since in the past secularism implemented in an extreme way because Ataturk said: Turkish people should not believe a book which is coming from sky” and this ideology was against the meaning of secularism. During the one party period of Turkey, religious affairs has banned in the public and government side. In the contemporary, almost all restrictions are removed by Erdogan. (Bulut, 2011)

·         To identify the benefits of the implementation of secularism towards the country

During the time of the Erdogan, he said that: “we are secular and democratic” but what he has done all policies were Islamic. He changed many rules and articles in the constitution which were against the democracy which means freedom of people, (no pressure on believes of people. (Bulut, 2011)

E.     Literature review

Kemal Ataturk’s Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 as a secular state, abolishing political, social, cultural and religious reforms followed. Islam was no longer the official religion of the country, the Sultanate was removed and all Turks were declared equal without reference to religion. But even though, in Azak's expression, “secularism is the main doctrine of Kemalism.  (Rear, 2014)There are three mechanisms. Those are exit, sincere voice and self-subversion that mediated the establishment of Turkish secularism. The first is Exit that means purging opponents out of decision-making. Next, Sincere voice which means public expression of dissent against the secularist reforms. The last is Self-subversion refers to concealment of underlying opposition to Kemalist project in the face of perceived pressures. Exit ensured the absence of the opposition leaders in the Assembly, allowing the Kemalists to intimidate the opposing deputies to self-subvert themselves, clogging sincere voice, to such a degree that all the secularizing reforms were unanimously approved without a single vote of dissent in the parliament. So that, the Kemalist secularism was established as a result of the dominance of exit and self-subversion over sincere voice. The very same interplay of these three mechanisms later led to the rise of a secular public sphere in Turkey during the early republican era (1923-1938).  (koker, 2010)

In the constitution of Republic of Turkey, Article 24- Everyone has   the freedom   of conscience, religious belief, and conviction, Religious and moral education and instruction shall be conducted under state supervision and control.   Instruction in religious culture and morals shall be one of the compulsory lessons in the curricula of primary and secondary schools. Other religious education and   instruction shall be subject   to the individual’s own desire, and in the case of minors, to the request of their legal representatives. (Constitution of Republic of Turkey)

Secularism in turkey has changed. Especially in the implementation of secularism ideas in some aspects such as in law, public  and private life has been questioning by the western academicians due to the implementation of the secularism in Turkey that differ with the western secularism. The transformation of political and social term in Turkey, and the rising role and visibility of Islam in public,  particularly during the last decade marked by the rule of the Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party , have triggered a search for new explanatory frameworks and reconceptualization of Turkish secularism. (Merdjanova, 2014)

The experts has Written about diversity toleration in the Ottoman Empire's classical period; the erosion of ethno-religious heterogeneity in modern, pre-democratic times. They also mentioned about the Kemalism and its role in modernization and nation building, the changing political strategies of the military; and the effect of possible EU membership on domestic reforms. The essays also offer a cross-Continental comparison of "multiple secularisms," as well as political parties, considering especially Turkey's Justice and Development Party in relation to Europe's Christian Democratic parties. Contributors tackle critical research questions, such as the legacy of the Ottoman Empire's ethno-religious plurality and the way in which Turkey's assertive secularism can be softened to allow greater space for religious actors. They address the military's "guardian" role in Turkey's secularism, the implications of recent constitutional amendments for democratization, and the consequences and benefits of Islamic activism's presence within a democratic system. No other collection confronts Turkey's contemporary evolution so vividly and thoroughly or offers such expert analysis of its crucial social and political systems. (stepan, 2012)

There was a generalizable argument about the effect of ideological fights on the public policy making process, as same as a state-religion regimes index of 197 countries. More specifically, it analyzes why American state policies are largely tolerant of religion, whereas French and Turkish policies generally prohibit its public visibility, as seen in their bans on Muslim headscarves. In the United States, the dominant ideology is "passive secularism," which requires the state to play a passive role, by allowing public visibility of religion. Dominant ideology in France and Turkey is "assertive secularism," which demands that the state play an assertive role in excluding religion from the public sphere. Passive and assertive secularism became dominant in these cases through certain historical processes, particularly the presence or absence of an ancient régime based on the marriage between monarchy and hegemonic religion during state-building periods. (ahmet t. kuru, san diego state universiy, 2009)

French laicism, which is based on the separation of church and state, inspired Turkish secularism (Ayoob, 2004), but there are distinct differences that make many features of Turkish secularism unique. For example, attempts to separate religion and state in the last decades of the Ottoman Empire resulted in dual practices emerging between them. Secularism and religion became distinct belief models, with separate followers in each. With the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, and during the secularization process this dichotomy was eradicated, and institutions not conforming to secularism were abolished (Berkes, 1998), The Department of Religious Affairs became attached to, and is still under the control of the state, where imams are civil servants and bound to follow the rules of the government (Ayoob, 2004). Simply put, all public religion representation was removed and became regulated by the state (Yaviz, 2003). From this perspective, the state controls religious institutions (Ayoob, 2004: Erdogan, 1999)  

When the Turkish Republic was established, the first article in its constitution of 1921 stated clearly that “Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the Nation.” The next article declared that “The religion of the Turkish state is Islam.” The first article is still preserved in the current constitution of 1982 and those who visit the Turkish National Assembly can see that phrase engraved in the main chamber. The second article, however, was abolished with an amendment made in 1928. Following the establishment of the Republic, various reforms were undertaken: in 1924, the caliphate was abolished, the madrasas were closed, education was brought under state control, and the religious courts were closed down. In 1925, religious orders were banned, in 1926, the Swiss civil code was adopted and in 1928 the alphabet was Latinized. In 1931, the principle of secularism was first adopted by the Republican People's Party as one of its six guiding principles.1 in 1937, the principle finally made its way into the Turkish constitution. These reforms were understood as firm steps towards a secular democracy. (Adanali, 2008)

All of these reforms worked together to effectively erase Islam from the lives of the everyday Turks. Despite the best efforts of religious-minded Turks (such as Said Nursi) to preserve their heritage, language, and religion, the government’s pressure to adopt secular ideas was too much. For over 80 years, Turkish government remained vehemently secular. Attempts to bring back Islamic values into government have been met with resistance by the military, which views itself as the protector of Atatürk’s secularism. Modern Turkey’s relations with Islam and its own history are complicated. Portions of the society strongly support Atatürk’s ideology and believe Islam should have no role in public life. Other segments of society envision a return to a more Islam-oriented society and government, and closer relations with the rest of the Muslim world. Most troubling, however, is that the ideological conflict between these two opposing sides shows no signs of subsiding anytime soon. (Ochsenwald, 2013)

Atatürk’s attacks on Islam were not limited to the government, however. Everyday life for Turks was also dictated by Atatürk’s secular ideas: The hijaab for women was ridiculed as a “ridiculous object” and banned in public buildings. The calendar was officially changed, from the traditional Islamic calendar, based on the hijrah – Prophet Muhammad ﷺ’s flight to Madinah – to the Gregorian calendar, based on the birth of Jesus Christ. In 1932, the adhan – the Muslim call to prayer – was outlawed in Arabic. Instead, it was rewritten using Turkish words and forced upon the country’s thousands of mosques. Friday was no longer considered part of the weekend. Instead, Turkey was forced to follow European norms of Saturday and Sunday being days off from work. The rejection of the Islamic tradition and its culture could be regarded as one of the main factors for the social and religious changes in modern Turkey. Kemal's reforms had totally brought a new system of life based on the western style. Turkey was henceforth a purely secular state. In fact, Kemal’s policy to terminate the political role of Islam or taking Islam out of politic seemed to be an attempt to take Islam out of much of social life as well (Yapp, 1991, p. 158). Up to the years 1990s, the religious institutions only function at a marginal role or take charge on a smaller religious administration not as it was during the Ottoman day (Bein, 2011). In this context, the urban society seemed to be much more affected by Kemal's reforms rather than those living in rural areas. In Istanbul and Ankara for instance, many people started to pay no attention to Ramadhan. Children were not taught to observe their daily prayer (Fisher, 1959, pp. 394-395). Since the Shariah law was collapse, thus there was no more religious force that could prevent people from doing whatever they like; good or bad things. However there were different phenomena in rural areas when many Muslims refused to accept Kemal's reforms. They quietly ignored and avoid the institutions of the secular state and continued to practice the Islamic traditions and its institutions. (Asyraf Hj Ab Rahman, 2015)

F.     Research Methodology

1.      Conceptual and Operational Definition of variable

·         Conceptual definition:

The principle of separation of the state from religious institutions and also it can be defined as “a system of doctrines and practices that disregards or rejects any form of religious faith and worship.

·         Operational definition: we will measure the influence of ruling party towards the implementation of secularism through these three points:

1) Macro – social differentiation;

2) Meso – the decline of significance of religion in organizations; and

3) Individual – a reduction in levels of practice, belief, or affiliation at the individual level.

2.      Hypothesis

“The implementation of secularism in Turkey is based on the ruling party in the government”       

·         Independent variable: Ruling party

·         Dependent variable: Secularism

3.      Methods of Data Collection

In this research, we will collect data by using interview method and questionnaires. We will interview about 12 people that consist of 10 students and two experts in political science (lecturer). The respondents are all from turkey, the students and the lecturer of IIUM. About 60 % of the students are from Istanbul of Turkey and the rest are from other cities. In this research, we will use face to face method interview to explore the responses of the people to gather more and deeper information. The interview session will be held about 10 minutes each person and we will deliver about 10 questions.           

We will hire about 30 students for questionnaires. The questionnaires will be made by using Google Docs which contains about 10 questions. The questions will be in the form of 8 close ended questions and 2 open ended questions to allow the respondents some freedoms to express their own opinions with less restriction. We will spread it freely through online among Turkey’s people that active in social media.

4.      Methods of Data Analysis

In this research we will analyze the data by using qualitative method. We will read the data through graphics and numbers that is provided and then we will define and detail it. We will do compare and contrast from the data that we get from data collection.

Research Questions for Interview:

1-      Do you know about secularism? How used to be implement?

2-      Do you think Turkey is a secular or Islamic country? How is the implementation of secularism there before Erdogan?

3-      As a citizens of Turkey do you face any challenge towards the implementation of secularism before Erdogan?

4-      Do you support secularism? And why?

5-      Implementation of secularism is effect your freedom to express your religion?  And how?

6-      How is the implementation of secularism after Erdogan? How is his implementation about secularism?

7-      Does the implementation of secularism bring welfare to the people in Turkey after Erdogan? How?

8.  Does secularism bring development to the country? How?

9. Do you think secularism is applicable in Muslim Majority country? And why?

Bibliography

Adanali, A. H. (2008). the presidency of religious affairs and the principle of secularism in Turkey. Malden,UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

ahmet t. kuru, san diego state universiy. (2009). secularism and state policies toward eligion-the united states, france and turkey. cambridge university press.

Asyraf Hj Ab Rahman, W. I. (2015). The Consequences of Ataturk’s Secularization on Turkey .

Bulut, Y. (2011). Democratic Turkey. Retrieved from Turkish New Agency: http://www.anews.com.tr/

Daver, P. D. (2013). Secularism in Turkey. Retrieved from Ataturk Arastirma Merkezi: http://www.atam.gov.tr/dergi/sayi-11/secularism-in-turkey

koker, T. (2010). the establishment of kemalist secularism in Turkey. middle east law and governance, 17-42.

Merdjanova, I. (2014). Secularism, Nationalism, and Minorities in Turkey, Beyond the myth of tolerance. journal of religion in Europe, 301-308.

Misirloglu, k. (1991). "But Which Ataturk". Istanbul.

Ochsenwald, W. a. (2013). How Ataturk made Turkey secular. Retrieved from Lost Islamic History: http://lostislamichistory.com/how-ataturk-made-turkey-secular/

Rear, P. G. (2014). Atatürk's Balancing Act: The Role of Secularism in Turkey. Global tides, volume 8.

stepan, A. T. (2012). democracy, islam, and secularism in Turkey. columbia university press.