Religion and Politics in Turkey

Abstract

For the student of religion and politics, Turkey represents a distinctive case in that Turkey is a constitutionally secularist state in a predominantly Islamic country. The Kemalist revolution sought to downplay the influence of Islam and Ottomanism, and to promote secularism and a specifically Turkish nationalism. Recently, the emergence of Islamism (or Islamic revivalism) that has taken place in much of the world has affected Turkey, as well, in that, in the face of opposition from committed secularists, Turkey has recently re-elected a government with roots in Islamism This article surveys some of the issues raised by these developments.