Religion in Turkey | |
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.jpg) Turkey's most recognizable religious building, theHagia Sophia. Now used as a mosque, this building was originally built inConstantinople in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian of theByzantine Empire. | |
Religion in Turkey |
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Religion in Turkey consists of various religious beliefs. WhileTurkey is officially asecular state, numerous surveys all show thatIslam is the country's most commonreligion. Published data on the proportion of people in Turkey who follow Islam vary. Because the government registers everyone asMuslim at birth by default, the official statistics can be misleading. There are many people who followother religions ordo not adhere to any religion, but they are officially classified as 'Muslim' in official records unless they make a contrary claim.[1] These records can be changed or even blanked out on the request of the citizen using a validelectronic signature to sign the electronic application.[2] According to the state, 99.8% of the population is initially registered as Muslim. The remaining 0.2% areChristians and adherents of other officially recognised religions such asJudaism.[3] According to a 2025 report fromPew Research Center, 95% of Turkey self identified asMuslim.[4] A significant percentage of them beingnon-observing Muslims.[5][6][7][8]
Turkey has officially been asecular country since its1924 constitution was amended in 1928. This was later strengthened and entrenched with the wider appliance oflaicism by founderAtatürk during the mid-1930s, as part of theRepublican reforms. Strtict regulations on religion, includinga ban on Islamic attire was imposed. The rights ofArmenian Apostolic,Greek Orthodox andJewish citizens were recognized under theTreaty of Lausanne.[9]
Beginning in the 1980s, the role of religion in the state has been a divisive issue, as influential religious factions challenged the complete secularization called for byKemalism and the observance of Islamic practices experienced a substantial revival.[10] In the early 2000s, Islamic groups challenged the concept of a secular state with increasing vigour afterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan's Islamist-rootedJustice and Development Party (AKP) came into power in 2002. Turkey was historically a religiously diverse country in the past. On the eve ofWorld War I, the predecessor of today's Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, had 20% of the population as non-Muslims. The non-Muslim population significantly decreased following thelate Ottoman genocides,population exchange between Greece and Turkey andemigration of Jews and Christians.[11]
While the state is officially secular, all primary and secondary schools have been required to teach religious studies since 1982, and the curriculum focuses mainly onSunni Islam. The extent to which other religions are covered depends on the school. These policies have been met with controversy and criticism by both the foreign media and the Turkish public. The high school curriculum, however, teaches religious studies through a philosophy (Felsefe) course and incorporates more information about other religions. The country also has public Islamic schools calledİmam Hatip schools, which came to prominence in the 1950s.[12]
When Turkey eventually applied to join theEuropean Union some member states questioned whether a Muslim country would fit in. Turkish politicians have accused the country's EU opponents of favoring a "Christian club".[13]
| Year | 1914 | 1927 | 1945 | 1965 | 1990 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muslims | 12,941 | 13,290 | 18,511 | 31,139 | 56,860 | 71,997 |
| Greeks | 1,549 | 110 | 104 | 76 | 8 | 3 |
| Armenians | 1,204 | 77 | 60 | 64 | 67 | 50 |
| Jews | 128 | 82 | 77 | 38 | 29 | 27 |
| Others | 176 | 71 | 38 | 74 | 50 | 45 |
| Total | 15,997 | 13,630 | 18,790 | 31,391 | 57,005 | 72,120 |
| Percentage non-Muslim | 19.1 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
Turkey does not conduct censuses about religious denominations. Although 99.8% of the population initially were registered as Muslims, academic research and polls give different results of the percentage of Muslims which are sometimes lower, most of which are above the 90% range.[citation needed] Traditionally non-Muslim ethnic groups comprise about 0.2% of the country's population.[18]
In a poll conducted bySabancı University in 2006, 98.3% of Turks revealed they were Muslim.[19] Most Muslims in Turkey areSunni Muslims forming about 85-90%,[20] andShia-Aleviler(Alevis,Alawites, andJa'faris) denominations in total form up to 10% of the Muslim population.[20][21] AmongShia Muslim presence in Turkey there is a small but considerable minority of Muslims withIsmaili heritage and affiliation.[22]Christians (Oriental Orthodoxy,Greek Orthodox andArmenian Apostolic) andJews (Sephardi), who comprise the non-Muslim religious population, make up about 0.2% of the total.[23]
According to a poll made by MAK, which interviewed 5,400 people in face-to-face through the country, 86% of the Turkish population declared they believe in God and 76% declared they believe the Quran and other holy books came through revelation by God.[79]
Another recent poll by OPTİMAR which interviewed 3,500 people in 26 cities, included a question about belief in God and found that 89.5% of the Turkish population believed in God, 4.5% believed in God but did not belong to an organized religion, 2.7% were agnostic, 1.7% were atheist, and 1.1% did not answer.[80]
According to a survey byWorld Values Survey In 2018 98.0% Identified as Muslims, while 1.2% Identified with no Religion and 0.8 as other.[81]
According to a survey by the pollster KONDA, the percentage of atheists in Turkey has tripled in 10 years and rose from 1% in 2008 to 3% in 2018, the percentage of non-believers or agnostics rose from 1% to 2%, and that 90% of irreligious Turks were under 35 years old. The survey was conducted in Turkey through face-to-face interviews with 5,793 people in their households, in April, 2018 while in 2008 6,482 people were interviewed in face-to-face in Turkey.[82][83][84]
In a 2023 report,Faith and Religiosity in Türkiye, released by theMarmara University but involving Turkish academics from other institutions as well, the researchers, found that 94% of those who took part in the survey Identified as believing in God and 1.5% did not believe in god, 2.5% were not sure god exists and 1.7% did not believe in a personal god but believed in a higher power.[15] According to the same study 62% Identified with theHanafi school of thought, 15.1% said they wereNon-denominational Muslim, 9.6% refused to give an answer, 9% followed theShafi'i school of thought, 3.1% Identified with theAlevism sect, 0.2% with theHanbali school of thought, 0.2% with theMaliki school of thought, 0.2% with theJa'fari school of thought and 0.6% said other.[15]
According to a 2025 report fromPew Research Center, 95% of Turkey self identified asMuslim.[85]
| Source | Islam | No religion | Christianity | Other religions and no reply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pew Research Center (2025) | 95% | 5% | N/A | N/A |
| Report on Faith and Religiosity in Turkey (2023) | 94% | 6% | N/A | N/A |
| KONDA (2021)[21](rounded figures) | 92% | 6% | N/A | 2% |
| Optimar (2019) | 89% | 8.9% | 0.3% | 1.1% |
| World Values Survey (2018) | 98.0% | 1.2% | N/A | 0.8% |
| MAK (2017) | 86% | 12.5% | 0.5% | 1% |
| Ipsos (2016) | 82% | 13% | 2% | 3% |
| Pew Research Center (2016) | 98% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| KONDA (2008) | 97% | 2% | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Sabancı University (2006) | 98.3% | 1.5% | 0.2% | N/A |
| Government official numbers[86][87] | 99.8% | N/A | 0.2% | N/A |
Islam is the religion with the largest community of followers in the country, where most of the population isMuslim,[88] of whom around 90% belong to theSunni branch of Islam, predominantly following theHanafifiqh. About 10% of the Muslim population belongs to theShia sects, mostly to theAlevi faith, thought by most of its adherents to be a form ofShia Islam while a minority considers it to have different origins (seeIshikism,Yazdanism). Closely related toAlevism is the smallBektashi community belonging to aSufi order of Islam that is indigenous to Turkey, but also has numerous followers in theBalkan peninsula.[89]Alawite, which is observed by some ethnicArabs in southern provinces, andJafari, which is the traditional sect of ethnicAzerbaijanis, are other sects that have significant population in Turkey. It is hard to estimate an exact number for religious minorities since Turkey does not conduct censuses about religious denominations. Although the Shia population of Turkey varies according to different sources from 4% to more than 10%.[90][2][13][20]
Alevism, which is the dominant sect of Shia Islam in Turkey, is mostly concentrated in the provinces ofTunceli,ErzincanMalatya,Sivas,Çorum,Kahramanmaraş,Amasya andTokat.Tunceli is the only province of Turkey with an Alevi majority. EthnicKurds andZazas make up a significant share ofAlevi population of Turkey, although majority of them are ethnicTurks.[91]
Islam arrived in the region that comprises present-day Turkey, particularly the eastern provinces of the country, as early as the 7th century. The mainstreamHanafi school ofSunni Islam is largely organized by the state through thePresidency of Religious Affairs (known colloquially asDiyanet), which was established in 1924 following the abolition of theOttoman Caliphate and controls allmosques andMuslim clerics, and is officially the highest religious authority in the country.[92]Shafi'i school ofSunni Islam is the dominant jurisprudence inTurkish Kurdistan.[93]
As of today, there are thousands of historical mosques throughout the country which are still active. Notable mosques built in the Seljuk and Ottoman periods include theSultan Ahmed Mosque andSüleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, theSelimiye Mosque in Edirne, theYeşil Mosque in Bursa, theAlâeddin Mosque andMevlana Mosque in Konya, and theGreat Mosque in Divriği, among many others. Large mosques built in the Republic of Turkey period include theKocatepe Mosque in Ankara and theSabancı Mosque in Adana.[94]
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The remainder of the population belongs to other faiths, particularlyChristian denominations (Eastern Orthodox,Armenian Apostolic,Syriac Orthodox,Catholic andProtestant), andJudaism (mostlySephardi Jews, and a smallerAshkenazi community).[95] There are between 120,000 and 320,000Christians who belong to variousChristian denominations,[96] and less than 15,000Jews in Turkey as of 2024.[97][98][99]
Turkey has numerous important sites forJudaism andChristianity, being one of the birthplaces of the latter. Since the 4th century, Istanbul (Constantinople) has been the seat of theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (unofficiallyFener Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi), which is one of the fourteenautocephalousEastern Orthodox churches, and theprimus inter pares (first among equals) in theEastern Orthodox communion.[100] However, the Turkish government does not recognize the ecumenical status ofPatriarchBartholomew I. TheHalki seminary remains closed since 1971 due to the Patriarchate's refusal to accept the supervision of theTurkish Ministry of Education on the school's educational curricula; whereas the Turkish government wants the school to operate as a branch of the Faculty of Theology atIstanbul University.[101] Other Eastern Orthodox denomination is theTurkish Orthodox Patriarchate with strong influences fromTurkish nationalist ideology.
Istanbul, since 1461, is the seat of theArmenian Patriarchate of Constantinople. There have been 85 individual patriarchs since establishment of the patriarchate. The firstArmenian Patriarch of Constantinople wasHovakim I who ruled from 1461 to 1478. SultanMehmed II allowed the establishment of the Patriarchate in 1461, just eight years after theFall of Constantinople in 1453. The Patriarch was recognized as the religious andsecular leader of allArmenians in the Ottoman Empire, and carried the title ofmilletbaşı orethnarch as well aspatriarch. 75 patriarchs have ruled during the Ottoman period (1461–1908), 4 patriarchs in theYoung Turks period (1908–1922) and 6 patriarchs in the current secularRepublic of Turkey (1923–present). The currentArmenian Patriarch isSahak II Mashalian (Սահակ Բ. Մաշալեան), who has been in office since 2019.
There are manychurches andsynagogues throughout the country, such as theChurch of St. George, theSt. Anthony of Padua Church, theCathedral of the Holy Spirit, theNeve Shalom Synagogue, theItalian Synagogue and theAshkenazi Synagogue in Istanbul. There are also many historical churches which have been transformed into mosques or museums, such as theHagia Sophia andChora Church in Istanbul, theChurch of St. Peter in Antakya, and theChurch of St. Nicholas in Myra, among many others. 20 existing churches have been repaired by the government since 2002,[102] such as theSt. Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır and theVortvots Vorodman Church in Kumkapı.[103] TheMor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox church, opened on 8 October 2023, is the first church built since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.[104] There is a small ethnic Turkish Protestant Christian community include about 4,000–5,000[105] adherents, most of them came from Muslim Turkish background.[106][107][108][109] Around 18,000Antiochian Greek Christians lives in Turkey, they live mostly inIstanbul,Antioch,Mersin,İskenderun,Samandağ, and in the villages ofAltınözü andTocakli, and the seaside town ofArsuz,[110] As of 2019, an estimated 18,000 of the country's 25,000Turkish Assyrians live inIstanbul, while the rest live inTur Abdin.[111] Also, there are around 500Mormons who live in Turkey.[112]
The percentage of Christians in Turkey fell from 17.5% (three million followers) in a population of 16 million to 2.5% percent in 1927.[14] The drop was the result of events that had a significant impact on the country's demographic structure, such as theArmenian genocide, thepopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey[113] and theemigration of Christians that began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century.[114] TheWealth Tax on non-Muslims in 1942, the emigration of a portion of Turkish Jews to Israel after 1948, and the ongoingCyprus dispute, which damaged relations between Turks and Greeks (culminating in theIstanbul pogrom of 6–7 September 1955), were other important events that contributed to the decline of Turkey's non-Muslim population.
TheBaháʼí Faith in Turkey has roots inBahá'u'lláh's, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, being exiled toConstantinople, current-dayIstanbul, by theOttoman authorities. Baháʼís cannot register with the government officially,[115] but there are probably 10[116] to 20[citation needed] thousand Baháʼís, and around a hundred BaháʼíLocal Spiritual Assemblies in Turkey.[117]
Tengrism is also one of the small religious minorities in Turkey. The interest in Tengrism, which is the old Turkic religion, has been increasing in recent years and the number of people who consider themselves Tengrists has increased.[118]
A sizeable part of theautochthonousYazidi population of Turkey fled the country for present-dayArmenia andGeorgia starting from the late 19th century.[119] There are additional communities in Russia and Germany due to recent migration.[120] TheYazidi community of Turkey declined precipitously during the 20th century. Most of them have immigrated to Europe, particularly Germany; those who remain reside primarily in villages in their former heartland ofTur Abdin.[121]
Irreligion in Turkey is uncommon among Turks, asIslam is the predominant faith. However, in recent years some secular officials have claimed thatatheism anddeism are growing among Turkish people.[122][123][124][125][126]
According to aIpsos survey conducted in 2017, which interviewed 17,180 adults across 22 countries polls showed that 82% of Turkey was Muslim and 7% of those who were interviewed from Turkey followed no religion whereas 6% identified as "Spiritual but not religious".[127]
According to a poll made by MAK in 2017, 86% of the Turkish population declared they believe in God. 76% declared they believeQuran and other holy books came throughrevelation by God.[128] According to another poll made in 2019 by OPTİMAR, which interviewed 3,500 people across 26 cities that 89.5% of those who were interviewed declared they believe in God while 4.5% said they believe in a God but do not believe in a religion.[129] Since there is stigma attached to being an atheist in Turkey, many Turkish atheists communicate with each other via the Internet.[130][131][132][133]
Another poll conducted by Gezici Araştırma in 2020 found that across 12 provinces and 18 districts in Turkey with the sample size of 1,062 people stated that 28.5% ofGen Z in Turkey identified with no religion.[134][135]
In a 2023 report,Faith and Religiosity in Türkiye, released by theMarmara University but involving Turkish academics from other institutions as well, the researchers, who insisted on their methodology so to have a nationally representative survey, found out that irreligiosity in the general population stood at 5.7% (including 1.5% for atheism) while it was 6% for those aged 25-34 and 11% for those aged 18-24.[15] Looking more specifically at the "typologies of belief and religiosity", the same report shows that among the 18-24, 18.4% are "devout Muslims", 39.9% are "mainstream Muslims", 29.1% are "secular Muslims" while 12.6% are "secular non-believer."[15]
Turkey has asecularconstitution, with no official state religion.[136] Over the course of the 20th century, it developed a strong tradition ofsecularism similar to the French model oflaïcité, with the main distinction being that the Turkish state "openly and publicly controls Islam through itsState Directorate of Religious Affairs".[137] The constitution recognizes thefreedom of religion for individuals, whereas the religious communities are placed under the protection and jurisdiction of the state and cannot become involved in the political process (e.g. by forming a religious party) or establish faith-based schools. No political party can claim that it represents a form of religious belief; nevertheless, religious sensibilities are generally represented through conservative parties.[136][138] For decades, the wearing ofreligious headcover and similar theopolitical symbolic garments was prohibited in universities and other public contexts such as military or police service.[139] As a specific incarnation of an otherwise abstract principle, it accrued symbolic importance among both proponents and opponents of secularism and became the subject of various legal challenges[140] beforebeing dismantled in a series of legislative acts from 2010 to 2017.[141]
Secularism was established in Turkey soon afterits founding in 1923, with an amendment to theTurkish constitution that mandated that Turkey had no official state religion and that the government and the state were to be free of religious influence. Themodernizing reforms undertaken by President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the 1920s and 1930s further established secularism in Turkey.
Despite its official secularism, the Turkish government includes the state agency of thePresidency of Religious Affairs (Turkish:Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı),[142] whose purpose is stated by law "to execute the works concerning the beliefs, worship, and ethics of Islam, enlighten the public about their religion, and administer the sacred worshiping places".[143] The institution, commonly known simply asDiyanet, operates 77,500 mosques, builds new ones, pays the salaries ofimams, and approves all sermons given in mosques in Turkey.[144] The Presidency of Religious Affairs finances onlySunni Muslim worship in Turkey. For example,Alevi,Câferî (mostlyAzeris), andBektashi Muslims (mostlyTurkmen) participate in the financing of the mosques and the salaries ofSunni imams by paying taxes to the state, while their places of worship, which are not officially recognized, do not receive any state funding. The Presidency of Religious Affairs' budget rose from US$0.9 billion for the year 2006 to $2.5 billion in 2012.
Beginning in the 1980s, the role of religion in the state has been a divisive issue, as influential religious factions challenged the complete secularization called for byKemalism and the observance of Islamic practices experienced a substantial revival. In the early 2000s (decade), Islamic groups challenged the concept of a secular state with increasing vigor afterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan's Islamist-rootedJustice and Development Party (AKP) came into power in 2002.
Turkey, through theTreaty of Lausanne (1923), recognizes the civil, political, and cultural rights of non-Muslim minorities. In practice, Turkey only recognizesGreek,Armenian, andJewish religious minorities.Alevi,Bektashi, andCâferî Muslims among other Muslim sects,[37] as well asLatinCatholics andProtestants, are not recognized officially. In 2013, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had discriminated against the religious freedom of Alevis.[145]
With more than 100,000 employees, the Presidency of Religious Affairs has been described as state within the state.[146]
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The mainstreamHanafite school ofSunni Islam is largely organised by the state, through thePresidency of Religious Affairs (Turkish:Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), which controls allmosques and pays the salaries of all Muslim clerics. The directorate is criticized by someAlevi Muslims for not supporting their beliefs and instead favouring only the Sunni faith.
TheEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (Patrik) is the head of theGreek Orthodox Church in Turkey, and also serves as thespiritual leader of allOrthodox churches throughout the world. TheArmenian Patriarch is the head of the Armenian Church in Turkey, while theJewish community is led by theHahambaşı, Turkey'sChief Rabbi, based in Istanbul. These groups have also criticized the Presidency of Religious Affairs for only financially supporting Islam in Turkey.
Antioch (modernAntakya), the city where "the disciples were first called Christians" according to the biblicalBook of Acts, is located in modern Turkey, as are most of the areas visited bySt. Paul during his missions. TheEpistle to the Galatians,Epistle to the Ephesians,Epistle to the Colossians,First Epistle of Peter, andBook of Revelation are addressed to recipients in the territory of modern Turkey.
Additionally, all of the firstSeven Ecumenical Councils that define Christianity forEastern Orthodox andCatholic Christians took place in the territory that is now Turkey.[148] Manytitular sees exist in Turkey, as Anatolia was historically home to a large Christian population for centuries.
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and Turkey is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights.[149]
Turkey has a democratic government and astrong tradition of secularism. Nevertheless, the Turkish state's interpretation of secularism has reportedly resulted in religious freedom violations for some of its non-Muslim citizens. The 2009 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom report placed Turkey on its watchlist with countries such as Afghanistan, Cuba, the Russian Federation, and Venezuela.[150] Nevertheless, according to this report, the situation for Jews in Turkey is better than in other majority Muslim countries. Jews report being able to worship freely and their places of worship having the protection of the government when required. Jews also operate their own schools, hospitals, two elderly homes, welfare institutions, as well as a newspaper. Despite this, concerns have arisen in recent years because ofattacks by extremists on synagogues in 2003, as well asgrowing anti-Semitism in some sectors of the Turkish media and society.
Catholic Christians have also occasionally been subjected to violent societal attacks. In February 2006, an Italian Catholic priest was shot to death in his church inTrabzon, reportedly by a youth angered over thecaricatures of Muhammad in Danish newspapers. The government strongly condemned the killing. A 16-year-old boy was subsequently charged with the murder and sentenced to 19 years in prison. In December 2007, a 19-year-old stabbed a Catholic priest outside a church in İzmir; the priest was treated and released the following day. According to newspaper reports, the assailant, who was arrested soon afterward, admitted that he had been influenced by a recent television program that depicted Christian missionaries as "infiltrators" who took advantage of poor people.
TheArmenian Patriarch, head of theArmenian Orthodox Church, also lacks the status of legal personality (unlike theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who has a government-recognized role), and there is no seminary in Turkey to educate its clerics since the closure of the last remaining seminar by the state, as only 65,000 Armenian Orthodox people live in Turkey. In 2006, the Armenian Patriarch submitted a proposal to the Minister of Education to enable his community to establish a faculty in the Armenian language at a state university with instruction by the Patriarch. Under current restrictions, only the Sunni Muslim community can legally operate institutions to train new clergy in Turkey for future leadership.
PatriarchBartholomew I,most senior bishop among equals in the traditional hierarchy of Orthodox Christianity, said that he felt "crucified" living in Turkey under a government that did not recognize theecumenical status of Patriarch and which would like to see his Patriarchate die out.[151] TheAKP government under Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan criticizedBartholomew I, with deputy prime ministerArınç saying that theEastern Orthodox Church enjoyed their religious rights during the AKP's rule, and foreign ministerDavutoğlu saying that he hoped that the Patriarch's remarks had been a "slip of the tongue".[152][153] In response to the government's criticism, Bartholomew's lawyer said when the patriarchate was criticizing government, he was referring to the state, not the AKP government in particular.[154] Prime Minister Erdoğan said that "When it comes to the question, 'Are you recognizing [him] as ecumenical?', I wouldn't be annoyed by it [this title]. Since it did not annoy my ancestors, it will not annoy me, either. But it may annoy some [people] in my country."[155] The Greek Orthodox orphanage inBüyükada was closed by the government;[156] however, following a ruling by theEuropean Court of Human Rights, the deed to the orphanage was returned to the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 29 November 2010.[157]
In 2022, Freedom House rated Turkey’s religious freedom as 2 out of 4,[158] noting that apart from Sunni Islam, Judaism, Orthodox Christianity and Armenian Christianity are officially recognized, but there are regular disputes regarding property and training of clerics.
In a poll conducted bySabancı University in 2006, 98.3% of Turks revealed they were Muslim.[19] Of that, 19% said they were "extremely religious", 45% said they were "somewhat religious", and 33% said they were "not very religious" and 3% had "no religious beliefs".[19] 3% of Turks declare themselves with no religious beliefs.[19]
According to a 2021 study byKadir Has University, 12.5% of participants identified as 'non-religious', 58% as 'somewhat religious', and 29.5% as 'religious'. In terms of religious practice, 41.6% described themselves as 'non-practicing', 37.2% reported attending only Friday and/or holiday prayers, while 21.2% said they perform all daily prayers.[160]
According to Pew in 2020, 89% of Turks say religion plays an important role in their life (71% very important, 18% somewhat important), and 8% say religion does not play an important role in their lives (3% not at all important, 5% not too important), 75% of Turks also say it is necessary to believe in God to be moral, compare to 84% in 2002.[161] A 2016Pew Research Center Report, only 13% of all Turks believe laws should "strictly follow the teachings of the Qur'an."[162]
According to the TFRS study in 2023[15]
| percentage | response |
|---|---|
62% | "Religious or very religious." |
24% | "Neither religious nor non-religious." |
14% | "Not religious." |
According to a poll made by OPTİMAR in 2019[163]
| percentage | response |
|---|---|
89.5% | "I believe in God's existence and oneness." (Theist) |
4.5% | "I think there is a Creator, but I am not religious." (Deist) |
2.7% | "I'm not sure if there is a Creator." (agnostic) |
1.7% | "I don't think there is a Creator." (Atheist) |
1.7% | no answer |
According to thePew Research Center report 2015:[164]
| percentage | response |
|---|---|
61% | religion is"very important" to their lives. |
22% | religion is"somewhat important" to their lives. |
7% | religion is"not too important" to their lives. |
3% | religion is"not at all important" to their lives. |
According to theGallup Poll 2012:[165]
| percentage | response |
|---|---|
23% | defined themselves as"a religious person". |
73% | defined themselves as"not a religious person". |
2% | defined themselves as"a convinced atheist". |
According to theEurobarometer Poll 2010:[166]
| percentage | response |
|---|---|
94% | "I believe there is a God". (theist) |
1% | "I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force". (spiritual) |
1% | "I do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force". (neither theist nor spiritual) |
According to the KONDA Research and Consultancy survey carried out throughout Turkey in 2007:[167]
| percentage | response |
|---|---|
52.8% | defined themselves as"a religious person who strives to fulfill religious obligations" (Practicing religious). |
34.3% | defined themselves as"a believer who does not fulfill religious obligations" (Religious in the name). |
9.7% | defined themselves as"a fully devout person fulfilling all religious obligations" (Fully devout). |
2.3% | defined themselves as "someone who does not believe in religious obligations" (Non-believer). |
0.9% | defined themselves as "someone with no religious conviction" (Irreligious). |
The rise of Islamic religiosity in Turkey in the last two decades, under the government ofRecep Tayyip Erdoğan and theJustice and Development Party (AKP), has been discussed for the past several years.[168][169][170] Many see Turkish society moving towards a more hardline Islamic identity and country,[168][170] citing increasing religious criticisms against what is considered immoral behaviour and government policies seen as enforcing conservative Islamic morality, as well as the controversialblasphemy conviction of the pianistFazıl Say for "insulting Islam" by retweeting a joke about the Islamic Friday prayer.The New York Times published a report about Turkey in 2012, noting an increasedpolarization between secular and religious groups in Turkish society and politics. Critics argue that Turkish public institutions, once staunchly secular, are shifting in favour of Islamists.[169]
Turkish academic Ayhan Kaya, in his 2015 research articleIslamisation of Turkey under the AKP Rule: Empowering Family, Faith and Charity, summarizes the question by talking of "a subtle Islamisation of society and politics in everyday life through the debates on the headscarf issue, Imam Hatip schools, faith communities and Alevism, the rise of an Islamic bourgeoisie with its roots in Anatolian culture, the emergence of consumerist lifestyles, not only among the secular segments of the Turkish society but also among Islamists, and, finally, the weakening of the legitimacy of the Turkish military as ‘the guardian of national unity and the laicist order’."[171]
In a 2022 book chapter, Turkish political scientist S. Erdem Aytaç, while analyzing different nationally representative polls and surveys from 2002, when the AKP rule began, till 2018, when the latest data was available, noted "an increase in subjective religiosity during the AKP rule", as the share of "non-devout" respondents fell from 44% in 2002 to 28% in 2018 while the "devout" rose from 32% to 42% and the "very devout" from 24% to 30% during these years.[172]
The government of Erdoğan and the AKP pursue the explicit policy agenda of Islamization of education to "raise a devout generation" against secular resistance,[173][174] in the process causing lost jobs and school for many non-religious citizens of Turkey.[175]
In 2013, several books that were previously recommended for classroom use were found to be rewritten to include more Islamic themes, without the Ministry of Education's consent. Traditional stories ofPinocchio, Heidi, andTom Sawyer were rewritten to include characters that wished each other a "God-blessed morning" and statements that included "in Allah's Name"; in one rewrite, one of theThree Musketeers converted to Islam.[176]
For most of the 20th century, Turkish law prohibited the wearing of headscarves and similar garments of religious symbolism in public governmental institutions.[177] The law became aWedge issue in the public discourse,[178] culminating in an early effort to see the law overturned by the Grand Chamber of theEuropean Court of Human Rights failing in 2005 when the court deemed it legitimate inLeyla Şahin v. Turkey.[140]
Subsequently, the issue formed a core of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's first campaign for the presidency in 2007, arguing that it was an issue of human rights and freedoms[179][180] Following his victory, the ban was eliminated in a series of legislative acts starting with an amendment to the constitution in 2008 allowing women to wear headscarves in Turkish universities while upholding the prohibition of symbols of other religions in that context.[177][181][182] Further changes saw the ban eliminated in some government buildings including parliament the next year, followed by the police forces and, finally, the military in 2017.[141]
In 2013, the parliament ofTurkey passed legislation that bans all forms of advertising for alcoholic beverages and restricting the alcohol sales after 11PM, except restaurants.[183] This also includes the censoring of images on television, usually implemented by blurring, historically implemented by CNBC-e as flower placement. The law was sponsored by the rulingAKP.
In early July 2020, theCouncil of State annulled theCabinet's 1934 decision to establish the museum, revoking the monument's status, and a subsequent decree by Turkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the reclassification of Hagia Sophia as a mosque.[184][185][186] The 1934 decree was ruled to be unlawful under both Ottoman and Turkish law as Hagia Sophia'swaqf, endowed by Sultan Mehmed, had designated the site a mosque; proponents of the decision argued the Hagia Sophia was the personal property of the sultan.[187][188][189] This redesignation is controversial, invoking condemnation from the Turkish opposition,UNESCO, theWorld Council of Churches, theInternational Association of Byzantine Studies, and many international leaders.[190][191][192][193][194]
During his speech announcing the conversion of the monument, Erdoğan highlighted how the conversion would gratify the "spirit of conquest" of Mehmet II, and during the first sermon on 24 July 2020,Ali Erbaş, head of Turkey'sDirectorate of Religious Affairs, held a sword in his hand, symbolizing a tradition of conquest. This was perceived as a branding of the non-Muslim population of Turkey, especially the Greek Orthodox as "re-conquered subjects and second-class citizens".[195]
In August 2020, just a month after the Hagia Sophia, the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the ancient Orthodox Church, the 1,000 year oldChurch of St. Saviour in Chora to be converted into a mosque. Similar to the Hagia Sophia, it had earlier been converted from a Church to a Mosque in 1453, and then into a museum known as the Kariye Museum after the Second World War.[196][197]
Many also see interest and support of secularism in Turkey as increasing, not decreasing.[198][199][200] After Erdogan made a statement in January 2012 about his desire to "raise a religious youth," politicians of all parties condemned his statements as abandoning Turkish values. A petition reading "[O]f Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Alawite, Shafi’i, religious and non-religious, atheist and agnostic backgrounds, all joined with a firm belief in secularism, [we] find your recent remarks about raising a religious and conservative youth most alarming and dangerous" was signed by over 2,000 people. The pro-government newspaperBugün ran a story stating "no one has the right to convert this society into a religious one, or the opposite." Surveys of the Turkish people also show a great support for maintaining secular lifestyles. The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation found that only 9% of Turks supported a religious state in 2006.[198] A more recent 2015 poll by Metropoll found that over 80% of Turkish people supported the continuation of Turkey as a secular state, with even the majority ofAKP voters supporting a secular state too.[201] Furthermore, according to a 2016Pew Research Center Report, only 13% of all Turks believe laws should "strictly follow the teachings of the Qur'an."[202]
An early April 2018 report of the Turkish Ministry of Education, titled "The Youth is Sliding to Deism", observed that an increasing number of pupils inİmam Hatip schools was abandoning Islam in favour ofdeism. The report's publication generated large-scale controversy amongst conservative Muslim groups in Turkish society. Progressive Islamic theologianMustafa Öztürk noted the deist trend a year earlier, arguing that the "very archaic, dogmatic notion of religion" held by the majority of those claiming to represent Islam was causing "the new generations [to get] indifferent, even distant, to the Islamic worldview." Despite lacking reliable statistical data, numerous anecdotes appear to point in this direction. Although some commentators claim the secularisation is merely a result of Western influence or even a "conspiracy", most commentators, even some pro-government ones, have come to conclude that "the real reason for the loss of faith in Islam is not the West but Turkey itself: It is a reaction to all the corruption, arrogance, narrow-mindedness, bigotry, cruelty and crudeness displayed in the name of Islam." Especially when theAKP Islamists are in power to enforce Islam upon society, this is making citizens turn their back on it.[203] However, in the 2023 reportFaith and Religiosity in Türkiye, the authors, who say that "a significant portion of society, particularly younger individuals, believes in God but distances themselves from religious institutions and practices", conclude that despite deism having some attraction among university students in particular (highest of 15% among BA students), in the overall society "the prevalence of deism in Türkiye is estimated to be less than 2%."[15]
Yılmaz Esmer, a Turkish professor, did a survey on radicalism and fundamentalism in the country in 2009, on subjects such as Darwinian evolution (7% believed in it back then), but he noted that the results were not different from a similar survey done in 1990, thus noting that there has been no real "recent Islamic resurgence encouraged by the rule of the AKP", just that religiosity was always there but now "has become more visible."[204]
While Islam remains present in Turkish society, for large parts of the population, its role is reduced to a cultural heritage rather than a religious obligation.
A significant percentage of Turks, particularly in urban areas, observe religious rituals only symbolically, and private belief often does not translate into daily religious practice.
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