Religion and Politics in Turkey: An Analysis of Turkish Secularism

Abstract

This article investigates the nature and evolution of Turkish secularism with a look into secularist reforms and policies adopted in since the foundation of the Turkish Republic. The time frame of the work covers the period between 1923 and 1980s. The research shows that Turkish secularism represented one of the most rigid examples of secularism in the world during the single party rule before 1945. With the introduction of multiparty system, however, it experienced a remarkable decline in its rigidity for rea-sons of electoral concerns by the Republican People’s Party and the development of a belief in the functional and prag-matist use of religion in public life. The army and the judici-ary appeared as the two leading guardians of Turkish secu-larism during the multiparty political era enjoying various legal powers and capabilities to intervene in politics in the event of a perceived threat against secularism.