Religion-State Relations in Turkey since the AKP: A Changing Landscape? Evidence from Parliamentary Debates on the Alevi Matter

Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs

Volumn 33, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 507-520

  Pinar, Candas ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84891936381     PISSN: 13602004     EISSN: 14699591     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13602004.2013.866351     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. "Kemalist" is a commonly used identifier referring to supporters of the ideological principles promoted by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. These principles include: "republicanism, "nationalism", "populism", "secularism", "statism", and "revolutionism." Historically, Kemalists have held the majority of leadership positions in the Republican People's Party, the military, and the Constitutional Court.
2. "Laiklik" is a Turkish word, derived from the French "laïcité". I use the term laiklik, over secularism, because it captures the extent to which the state plays an active role in the regulation of religion in Turkey. For further details on the differences between secularism, laiklik, and laïcité.
3. Andrew Davison, "Turkey, a 'Secular' State?: The Challenge of Description", The South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 102, No. 2/3, 2003, pp. 333-350.
4. A. Kuru, Secularism and State Policies Toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 168-180.
5. H. Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 154-159.
6. James Warhola and Egemen Bezci, "Religion and State in Contemporary Turkey: Recent Developments in Laiklik", Journal of Church and State, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2010, p. 428.
7. Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey, p. 158.
8. Kuru, Secularism and State Policies Toward Religion, p. 176.
9. Davison, "Turkey, a 'Secular' State?" p. 337.
10. Ümit Cizre Sakalloglu, "Parameters and Strategies of Islam-State Interaction in Republican Turkey", International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2, 1996, p. 234.
11. Sükrü Hanioglu, "The Historical Roots of Kemalism", in Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey, eds. Ahmet Kuru and Alfred Stepan, New York: Columbia University Press, 2012, p. 43.
12. "Diyanet: Kurulusu ve Tarihi Gelişimi [Diyanet: Founding and Historical Development]". http:// www.diyanet.gov.tr/turkish/diyanetyeni/Diyanet-Isleri-Baskanligi-Tanitim-Taktim-4.aspx
13. Article 136 of the Turkish Constitution.
14. Davison, "Turkey, a 'Secular' State?" p. 337.
15. Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christians as well as Jews are represented by a separate government agency called the General Directorate for Foundations. The rights of these minority religions are guaranteed by the Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923 by Turkish military forces and European powers.
16. Binnaz Toprak, "Secularism and Islam: The Building of Modern Turkey", Macalester International, Vol. 15, p. 32.
17. Sakalloglu, "Parameters and Strategies of Islam-State Interaction in Republican Turkey", p. 234.
18. Hanioglu, "The Historical Roots of Kemalism", p. 42.
19. "Diyanet: Kurulusu ve Tarihi Gelisimi"
20. Davison, "Turkey, a 'Secular' State?" p. 341.
21. Murat Akan, "Twin Tolerations or Siamese Twins? Kemalist Laicism and Political Islam in Turkey", in Institutions and Democracy: Essays in Honor of Alfred Stepan, eds. Douglas Chalmers and Scott Main-waring, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2011.
22. Hanioglu, "The Historical Roots of Kemalism"
23. Davison, "Turkey, a 'Secular' State?"
24. Taha Parla and Andrew Davison, "Secularism and Laicism in Turkey", in Secularisms, eds. Janet Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008, p. 67.
25. Sakalloglu, "Parameters and Strategies of Islam-State Interaction in Republican Turkey"
26. Parla and Davison, "Secularism and Laicism in Turkey", p. 74.
27. Mandatory religion courses for students in grades 4 through 12 were introduced in 1982.
28. Sinem Gürbey, "Islam, Nation-State, and the Military: A Discussion of Secularism in Turkey", Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2009, pp. 371-380.
29. Sam Kaplan, "Din-U Devlet All over Again? The Politics of Military Secularism and Religious Militarism in Turkey Following the 1980 Coup", International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2002, pp. 113-127.
30. "Diyanet: Temel Ilkeler ve Hedefler [Diyanet: Basic Principles and Objectives]." http://www.diyanet. gov.tr/turkish/dy/Diyanet-Isleri-Baskanligi-Duyuru-8222.aspx
31. AKP MP Bülent Ar nç, Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi (T.B.M.M.), April 23, 2006. All transcripts can be found at: http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/tutanak/tutanaklar.htm.
32. "Turkey Lifts Headscarf Ban in Religious Schools", Reuters, November 28, 2012.
33. "Parliament OKs Elective Quran Course in Schools Amidst Scuffles", Today's Zaman, March 30, 2012.
34. "Religious Schools Sprouting in Turkey in Wake of Contentious Reform Bill", Hürriyet Daily News, June 19, 2012.
35. Kuru, Secularism and State Policies toward Religion, p. 179.
36. Markus Dressler, "Alevs", Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. http://www.paulyonline.brill.nl/entries/ encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/alevis-COM_0167.
37. Elise Massicard, The Alevis in Turkey and Europe: Identity and Managing Territorial Diversity, New York: Routledge, 2012, p. 91.
38. Markus Dressler, "Religio-Secular Metamorphoses: The Re-Making of Turkish Alevism", Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 76, No. 2, 2008, p. 287.
39. The 89th article of the Law of Political Parties prohibits MPs from proposing the abolition of Diyanet, but does allow for proposals to restructure the ministry.
40. Talha Köse, Alevi Opening and the Democratization Initiative in Turkey, SETA Policy Report, No. 3, 2010, p. 11.
41. Dressler, "Religio-Secular Metamorphoses" p. 289.
42. David Shankland, The Alevis in Turkey: The Emergence of a Secular Islamic Tradition, New York: Rou-tledgeCurzon, 2003, p. 21.
43. Elise Massicard, "Alevism in the 1960s: Social Change and Mobilisation", in Alevis and Alevism, ed. Hege Irene Markussen, Istanbul: The Isis Press, 2005, p. 121.
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45. Köse, "Alevi Opening and the Democratization Initiative in Turkey"
46. Kuru, Secularism and State Policies Toward Religion, p. 180.
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48. Gökçe Gündüç, "AKP 'Alevi Yemegi'yle Açilm Degil, Reklam Yapti' [The AKP Meals are not an Opening, they are an Advertisement]", Bianet, January 14, 2008.
49. "The Ephemeral Alevi Opening", The Economist, August 11, 2012
50. "Turkey's Elephant in the Room: Religious Freedom", The New York Times, September 28, 2011.
51. There is general consensus that Turkey's Christian minority has fared better under the AKP than previous governments, but significant benchmarks have yet to be reached. Chief among these is the reopening of the Halki Seminary, which faces significant opposition from members of the CHP, AKP, and the Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP).
52. CHP MP Ismail Degerli, T.B.M.M. 24 March 2003.
53. CHP MP Ali Ri{dotless}za Gülçiçek, T.B.M.M. 21 November 2006.
54. CHP MP Vahdet Sinan Yerlikaya, T.B.M.M. 24 June 2003.
55. CHP MP Ahmet Ersin, T.B.M.M. 30 January 2008.
56. CHP MP Vahdet Sinan Yerlikaya, T.B.M.M. 21 November 2006.
57. CHP MP Atila Emek, T.B.M.M. 5 December 2007.
58. ANAVATAN MP Ibrahim Özdogan, T.B.M.M. 16 December 2006.
59. CHP MP Vahdet Sinan Yerlikaya, T.B.M.M. 21 November 2006.
60. CHP MP Atila Emek, T.B.M.M. 16 December 2009.
61. AKP MP Abdurraham Ani{dotless}k, T.B.M.M. 18 December 2005.
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63. AKP MP Mehmet Aydi{dotless}n, T.B.M.M. 5 June 2008.
64. AKP MP Mehmet Aydi{dotless}n, T.B.M.M. 17 December 2008.
65. AKP MP Mehmet Ali Sahin, T.B.M.M. 21 December 2004.
66. AKP MP Abdurraham Ani{dotless}k, T.B.M.M. 18 December 2005.
67. AKP MP Ertugrul Günay, T.B.M.M. 6 January 2010.
68. AKP MP Mehmet Erdogan, T.B.M.M. 8 January 2009.
69. CHP MP Vahdet Sinan Yerlikaya, T.B.M.M. 21 November 2006.
70. AKP MP Abdurraham Ani{dotless}k, T.B.M.M. 18 December 2005.
71. AKP MP Mehmet Çiçek, T.B.M.M. 31 January 2007.
72. CHP MP Durdu Özbalat, T.B.M.M. 20 October 2009.
73. BDP MP Ahmet Türk, T.B.M.M. 22 October 2009.
74. CHP MP Durdu Özbalat, T.B.M.M. 20 October 2009.
75. BDP MP Ahmet Türk, T.B.M.M. 22 October 2009.
76. AKP MP Alaattin Büyükkaya, T.B.M.M. 5 December 2007.
77. DTP (BDP's predecessor) MP Serafettin Halis, T.B.M.M. 5 December 2007.
78. AKP MP Hüseyin Çelik, T.B.M.M. 11 November 2008.
79. BDP MP Ahmet Türk, T.B.M.M. 22 October 2009.
80. Akan, "Twin Tolerations or Siamese Twins?"