1 Muslim Populations

The census conducted by the Turkish Statistics Institution (Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu, TÜİK) on 31 December 2008 recorded the population of Turkey as 71,517,100.¹ Following the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1924, the nation-building process envisaged a thoroughly homogeneous population in religious and ethnic terms. The extreme sensitivity of the state elites has led to the ethnic and religious affiliations of the population being excluded from the official census since 1965, so we do not have official data for these factors, but there have been some significant surveys, the most important of which was conducted in 2006 by the Milliyet-KONDA company.² This survey found that there were 55,484,000 self-identified Turks (76.03% of the population), 11,445,000 Kurds (15.68%) and 6,460,000 people from other ethnic groups (8.3%). The same survey also indicates the religious demography of the Turkish population and found that around 99% of the Turkish population identify themselves as Muslim. In terms of denominational affiliations, Sunni Hanafi Turks comprise 82.14% of the total population, Sunni Shafi’is 9.06% (of whom 72% live in eastern and south-eastern Anatolia, 76% are Kurds, 13% Turks, and 10% Arabs). Alevis comprise 5.73% of the population (4,500,000 people), and are 43% Turks, 42% Kurds and 7% Arabs, with the remaining 8% of various other ethnicities. About a third of all Alevis live in Istanbul with other major concentrations in central Anatolia and the Mediterranean region. The Ja’faris are the country’s principal Shi’a community and number between 500,000 and 1,000,000 (concentrated mostly in eastern Turkey and Istanbul).³ Overall, Hanafis and Shafi’is regard their Sunnism as a powerful common denominator, while Alevis consider themselves a distinct group.

In a survey carried out in 2006 by two prominent political scientists from the University of the Bosphorus, respondents were asked to reply, on a scale of 1 to 10, to the question: Where do you locate yourself in the continuum from ‘Islamist’ to ‘secular’? In reply, 20.3% of respondents identified themselves as ‘secular’, 48.5% as ‘Islamist’ and 23.4% as somewhere in between. One should not forget, however, that the meanings ascribed to the terms ‘Islamist’ and ‘secular’ are vague, so these results are open to interpretation.⁴

2 Islam and the State

Under its 1982 Constitution, Turkey is a secular state providing for freedom of belief and worship, and freedom to privately disseminate religious ideas. However, other constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights. Turkish laiklik (laïcité) not only prescribes a separation between religion and the state but also requires that religion be kept under state control. Accordingly, state policy imposes some restrictions on religious groups and on religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities, symbolised in the ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf. Article 219 of the penal code prohibits imams, priests, rabbis and other religious leaders from “reproaching or vilifying” the government or the laws of the state while performing their duties. As a corollary of the principle of laïcité, there is legislation against insulting any religion, interfering with a religion’s services or damaging its property.

The Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which is under the authority of the Prime Minister’s office, administers Sunni Muslim religious facilities and teaching courses. The Diyanet is responsible for regulating the operation of the country’s registered mosques and employing local and provincial imams, who are civil servants, and also covers the cost of utilities at registered mosques. Some groups, particularly some Alevis, claim that Diyanet policies reflect mainstream Sunni Islamic beliefs and accuse the Diyanet of bias since it does not allocate specific funds for Alevi activities or religious leadership and does not cover the cost of utilities at ‘Alevi cem houses’ because they are not formally recognised as places of worship.

3 Main Muslim Organisations

The oldest Islamic groupings in Republican Turkey are the Nurcu movement founded by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, and the Suleymancis originally led by Suleyman Hilmi Tunahan, the establishment of both dating back to the 1930s. Sufi and other mystical, religious-social orders, brotherhoods (tariqas) and lodges (cemaats) are banned under the “Law on the Closure of Religious Shrines and Dervish Convents and Prohibition of Some Titles” of 30 November 1925, but tariqas and cemaats have nevertheless remained active and widespread. Some prominent political and social leaders continue to associate with them and other Islamic communities. Calls for the lifting of this ban are part of the on-going agenda in Turkish politics, but Kemalists and neo-Kemalists are resolutely against the growing power of brotherhoods in the political and social life of the country.

Apart from miscellaneous non-official Islamic groupings, the most important organisation is the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, Eskişehir Yolu 9. km. Çankaya-Ankara, tel.: +90 312 295 70 00; http://www.Diyanet.gov.tr), an official institution established by Law 429 on 3 March 1924, the same day as the abolition of the caliphate. It represents the highest Islamic religious authority in the country. According to Article 136 of the Constitution: “The Department of Religious Affairs, which is within the general administration, shall exercise its duties prescribed in its particular law, in accordance with the principles of secularism, removed from all political views and ideas, and aiming at national solidarity and integrity.” It is empowered to regulate issues concerning Islamic belief, rituals and morality and to provide society with religious guidance.

Other notable Islamic organisations are as follows:

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The Turkish Foundation for Religious Affairs (Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, Dr. Mediha Eldem Sokak no. 89, 06640 Kocatepe, Ankara, tel.: +90 312 417 12 35, fax: +90 312 418 19 00, www.Diyanetvakfi.org.tr) was established on 13 March 1975. It is a tax-exempt foundation, has the right to collect donations without prior permission, and is the biggest foundation in Turkey in terms of its financial resources. Its purposes are to support the activities of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, to enlighten and guide the population in religious matters, to build mosques and to work towards strengthening social solidarity. The prestigious Islam Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of Islam), the first of its kind in the Muslim World, is a product of the Islamic Studies Centre (Islami Araştırmalar Merkezi, ISAM, İcadiye Bağlarbaşı Cad. 40, Bağlarbaşı 34662, Üsküdar-Istanbul, tel.: +90 216 474 08 50, fax: +90 216 474 08 74, http://www.isam.org.tr/) established by the Foundation.

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The Foundation for Turkish Volunteer Associations (Türkiye Gönüllü Teşekküller Vakfı, TGTV, Otakçılar Mh. Savaklar Cd. no. 134050, Edirnekapı/Eyüp/İstanbul, tel.: +90 212 534 04 07, fax: +90 212 534 04 08, http://www.tgtv.org) was established on 22 January 1994 and is based in Istanbul. It is an umbrella organisation made up of 700 foundations, associations and unions that have Islamic and Turkish nationalist leanings.

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There is a network of organisations linked to the Gülen Community, the controversial Fethullahçi or neo-Nurcu movement, founded and led by a retired preacher, Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi, now living in the USA, including the Journalists and Writers Foundation (Gazeteciler ve Yazarlar Vakfı, Cumhuriyet Cad. no. 129/5, 34230 Harbiye-Istanbul, tel.:+90 (212) 232 17 10, fax:+90 (212) 232 15 88, http://www.gyv.org.tr), established on 29 June 1994. The Foundation has three important organisational components through which it conducts its global outreach: The Dialogue Eurasia Platform, the Abant Meetings and the Intercultural Dialog Platform.

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The Anatolia Youth Association (Anadolu Gençlik Derneği, Hükümet Cad., Hilal Sokak no. 10, Kat:1, Ulus-Ankara, tel.: 0312 309 59 27, fax: 0312 311 56 71, http://www.agd.org.tr) is the successor of the National Outlook Foundation (Milli Görüş Vakfı), the most important social organisation of the National Outlook Movement. It was founded in Ankara in 2002 and has 700 branches throughout the country. It follows the ideology and programme devised by the founder of the National Outlook, Necmettin Erbakan.

There are numerous socially and financially powerful Islamically oriented charitable associations that have become widely known and acquired popular support. Areas of their activities include: social aid, food aid, care of orphans, housing and clothing aid, vocational training, and support for educational and health facilities. The prominent charitable associations are: International Humanitarian Help (IHH, http://www.ihh.org.tr), Solidarity and Aid Association (Kimse Yok Mu, http://www.kimseyokmu.org.tr), Deniz Feneri (http://www.denizfeneri.org.tr), Cansuyu (http://www.cansuyu.org.tr) and Yardı-meli (http://www.yardimeli.org.tr).

4 Mosques and Prayer Houses

In 2008, there were 80,053 mosques in Turkey.⁵ The most famous are those built in Istanbul by the Ottoman Sultans, called Selatin mosques, while the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara is the most important to have been built in the Republican period.

5 Children’s Education

The 1982 Constitution established compulsory religious and moral instruction in primary and secondary schools within the framework of the ideology of the Turkish-Islamic Synthesis, developed by the military government in response to leftist movements. In January 2007, the religious education curriculum was changed so as to include a very basic introduction to Alevism. Only the Diyanet is authorised to provide courses in religion (Kuran Kursları) outside school, although clandestine and unofficial private courses do exist. Students who complete the first five years of primary school may enrol in Diyanet Qur’an classes at weekends and during summer vacations. Only children aged 12 and older may legally register for official Qur’an courses, which include 32-week courses, summer Qur’an classes and classes for memorising the whole Qur’an.

Since 1997, it has been compulsory for children to attend eight years of secular education, after which those who wish to receive Islamic religious education may continue their studies at İmam-Hatip high schools (lycees), which cover both the standard curriculum and Islamic theology and practice. There are currently 444 İmam-Hatip schools in Turkey. Although they date back to 1924, İmam-Hatip schools were only named İmam-Hatip high schools in 1973, when they were authorised to provide education for both vocational and undergraduate study under Article 32 of the Basic Law of National Education of 1973. During the process of military intervention, the so-called “28 February 1997 post-modern coup”, the secondary school sections of İmam-Hatip schools were closed down and the high school sections became four-year lycees providing only vocational education. As a result of this change, graduates of these schools were effectively barred from entrance to universities, apart from faculties of theology, and the number of students attending them fell from 500,000 to 60,000 in the space of five years. In July 2009, the regulation that discriminated against students from vocational schools, including Imam-Hatip high schools, was changed by the Higher Education Council so as to provide them with equal opportunities in university entrance examinations without restricting the university programmes they could apply for outside their vocational specialisation.⁶ Many religiously devout citizens consider the religious instruction provided in state schools to be inadequate and most families who enrol their children (especially girls) in İmam-Hatip schools do so to expose them to more extensive religious education, not to train them as imams.

Apart from state-provided religious education and instruction, there are hundreds of private schools affiliated to Islamic communities. These schools are not designed as Islamic religious schools, but provide a more conducive environment for Islamic socialisation. Many of these schools are very popular and most are affiliated to the Gülen community.

Boys and girls are usually taught together in the education system, in both public and private schools. Students are strictly forbidden to wear the headscarf in both primary and secondary schools.

6 Higher and Professional Education

There are 25 theology faculties offering undergraduate programmes.⁷ No new ones have been opened since the 28 February 1997 military coup and student numbers have fallen drastically. The Higher Education Board decided to equalise the quota used in the calculation of points in university entrance examinations and made all university programmes accessible to all applicants, including graduates of İmam-Hatip schools. This is bringing about a slow change, but suits brought before the Council of the State to annul these decisions are on-going.

7 Burial and Cemeteries

The TÜİK does not produce statistics on the number of Muslim cemeteries in Turkey. Municipalities deal with all issues related to Muslim funerals in accordance with Islamic practice and relevant legislation,⁸ including burial and cemeteries. Muslims in Turkey face no problems in observing Islamic burial practice or in creating and maintaining their cemeteries.

8 ‘Chaplaincy’ in State Institutions

Religious services in prisons date back to 1974, but were not well enough organised and established to be called ‘chaplaincy’. However, under a protocol signed between the Ministry of Justice and the Directorate of Religious Affairs on 15 May 2001, Diyanet officials provide religious services in prisons on a weekly or monthly basis.⁹ Since then, 10,000 copies of Qur’an have been distributed in prisons. As of 2009, there are 42 ‘chaplains’ in prisons and 417 preachers have been commissioned in prisons following requests by public prosecutors.¹⁰

No religious services or moral guidance are provided in hospitals, and most hospitals do not have proper places of worship for patients. In 1995, religious services began to be provided by volunteers in some state hospitals, but this was stopped by the Council of State at the request of the Ankara Chamber of Doctors on the grounds that it violated the principle of secularism.¹¹

There is a core army chaplaincy structure, but this is reserved for times of war and no army chaplains have been appointed since the 1974 war in Cyprus.¹²

9 Religious Festivals

Turkey observes Qurban Bayram (‘Id al-Adha) and Ramazan Bayram (‘Id al-Fıtr) as national holidays (the first lasting 3.5 days, and second 4.5).¹³ In addition, there are other holidays known as kandils that are religiously important and celebrated, but not officially recognised. Apart from kandils, the Day of Ashura is observed by both Sunni and Alevi Muslims and all prepare a traditional dessert known as ashura to share with their neighbours. Since the 1980s, the week that includes 20 April is celebrated as the Week of the Holy Birth of the Prophet Muhammad (Kutlu Doğum Haftası). The first day of this week is named as the day of the rose, which symbolises the Prophet.

10 Halal Food

Food in Turkey is usually prepared according to halal regulations, but in recent years there have been suspicions that some meat products are mixed with pork without being so labelled, a matter of serious concern for the great majority of the population. The Turkish Institute of Standards is working towards a system whereby food products can be certified halal upon request.¹⁴ There is no restriction on the slaughter of animals in accordance with Muslim religious and hygiene regulations, provided that the place should be allocated for slaughter by the local (usually municipal) authorities in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Animals.¹⁵

11 Dress Codes

A ban on the wearing of headscarves in universities and by civil servants in public buildings has been in force for a long time. The debate on this question revolves around whether the headscarf is religious attire or a political symbol, and whether it should be banned to protect the secular foundations of the state or permitted on the basis of individual freedom of religion as a corollary of secularism. The ban is the result of the various decisions of the Turkish Constitutional Court, although there is no law explicitly banning the wearing of headscarf in universities. In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkish universities had the right to ban the headscarf, while in February 2008, Parliament passed constitutional amendments designed to lift the ban on wearing headscarves on university campuses. However, on 5 June 2008, the Constitutional Court ruled that the amendments violated the secular nature of the state and were therefore unconstitutional.¹⁶

Apart from the hijab issue, there is also a ban on the wearing of religious attire by men of religion outside their places of worship. Only the leaders of non-Muslim communities and the President of the Directorate of the Religious Affairs are entitled to wear their religious attire in public.¹⁷

12 Publication and Media

There is an important representation of religious concerns, interests and claims in the media. Currently, the most widely sold daily newspaper is Zaman, which is known to be affiliated to the Gülen community. Apart from Zaman, dailies such as Yeni Şafak, Milli Gazete, Anadolu’da Vakit, Yeni Asya and Türkiye Gazetesi are known to be affiliated to religious groups. There are also ‘Islamist’ columnists who write in some mainstream, non-religious newspapers such as Bugün, Star and Radikal. Aksiyon news magazine is among the most widely read Islamic weeklies.

Among the national television channels sensitive to religious concerns, Samanyolu is among the top five most watched national television channels. Kanal 7, Ülke TV, Kanal A, TV NET, Ses TV, TV 5, Hilal TV, Dost TV are known to be affiliated to Muslim religious groups. There are, of course, various representations of Islamic topics on other television channels too.

Two news agencies with religious roots, Cihan Haber Ajansı (CHA) and İhlas Haber Ajansı (İHA) are among the most important news agencies in the country. Burç FM, Radyo 15, Akra FM, Moral FM, TGRT FM may be counted as national radio stations with an Islamic orientation.

13 Family Law

The Turkish Civil Code prescribes equality between men and women in all respects, including role sharing within marriage, although the husband is considered to be the de facto head of the family. In practice, however, polygamous relationships and, more frequently, purely religious (i.e. officially unregistered) marriage ceremonies, still take place. The Civil Code does not recognise religious marriage contracts and no religious rituals are permitted during the official, secular wedding ceremony, but a religious marriage ceremony commonly takes place parallel to the official procedures. Muslims in Turkey are not permitted by law to conduct marriage ceremonies in mosques, nor are men of religion (imams) entitled to register marriage contracts. ‘Honour killings’ and early marriages still occur. Adultery is not considered a crime, but is seen as a factor to be considered in divorce suits.

According to the civil code men and women are equal in terms of their entitlement to inheritance. The legal (and court) system is entirely secular and religious affiliation is irrelevant in litigation. In practice, however, in more traditional areas females are often prevented from receiving their share of an inheritance, or receive a smaller portion than male members of the family.

14 Interreligious Relations

The most important interreligious occasion is the attendance of the President of Religious Affairs and the religious leaders of non-Muslim minorities, i.e., Orthodox Christians, Armenians and Jews, at iftar dinners during the months of Ramadan.

In terms of public opinion, there is strong support for interreligious dialogue on the part of both the Presidency of Religious Affairs and some Muslim communities, particularly the followers of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. Some neo-Kemalist and nationalist religious groups vehemently oppose the interreligious dialogue discourse on suspicion of underlying missionary activities, imperialism and alleged syncretism. Overall, there are few serious problems between communities of different religions. The locus of problems in terms of interreligious relations is not between communities but between the state and communities.

15 Public Opinion and Debate

During 2009, the case for closing down the conservative Islamic government party, the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) was concluded by the Constitutional Court and the party was sentenced to lose half of its annual right to state financial aid.

In an opinion poll conducted by the polling company ANAR, 92.6% of respondents stated that religion had an important place in their life. The poll also indicated a correlation between lower levels of religiosity and higher levels of education.¹⁸

The government initiated a so-called “Alevi Opening” in order to articulate, determine and find solutions for the problems of the Alevi community for the first time in the Republic’s history. Seven workshops were held in which representatives of the Alevi Community and the Presidency of Religious Affairs, academicians, journalists, writers, artists and others participated. This initiative has been generally welcomed by representatives of the Alevi Community.¹⁹

During 2009, the Turkish Armed Forces announced that three teachers of theology would be employed to fill posts left vacant by staff going into retirement so as to meet the need for lecturers for compulsory religion and morality courses delivered in military high schools. Although the suspicion that the armed forces might be recruiting chaplains caused some controversy, a public declaration by the Chief of Staff made it clear that this decision had nothing to do with the practice of military chaplaincy.²⁰

16 Major Cultural Events

The Islamic practice of circumcision takes place in Turkish tradition at the age of 6–8. It has become the occasion for major family celebrations with attached ceremonial activities in which the boy is dressed in colourful, often military-style, clothes.

The month of Ramadan preceding ‘Id al-Fitr creates a special atmosphere throughout the country, and book fairs organised by the Diyanet have become a complementary part of this. The Hajj, occurring at the same time as ‘Id al-Adha, also creates a very particular country-wide awareness. The Week of the Holy Birth of the Prophet celebrated in the third week of April under the auspices of the Diyanet, the Hacı Bektaş Festival in August celebrated by the Turkish Alevi community, and Ashura, complemented by the Muharram fast, particularly marked by Shi’ites, may also be cited as important cultural events.

The Commemorative Ceremony for Mevlana, the great Sufi saint (1207–1273), held every year in Konya, the ancient Seljuk capital, in the month of December, is one of the world’s greatest spectacles. More than a million people visit the city for this festival of the ‘Whirling Dervishes’ (Sema).