Freedom of religion in Turkey
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Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
is a
secular state A secular state is an idea pertaining to secularity, whereby a State (polity), state is or purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state claims to treat all its citizens ...
in accordance with Article 24 of its
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
.
Secularism in Turkey Secularism in Turkey defines the relationship between religion and state in the country of Turkey. Secularism or Laicism (or ''laïcité'') was first introduced with the 1928 amendment of the Constitution of 1924, which removed the provision de ...
derives from
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
's
Six Arrows The Six Arrows (Turkish: ''Altı Ok'') is the symbol and flag of the Turkish Republican People's Party (CHP). The arrows represent the fundamental pillars of Kemalism, Turkey's founding ideology. These are Republicanism, Populism, Nationalis ...
:
republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
,
populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
,
laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as discouraging religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determin ...
,
reformism Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...
,
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
and
statism In political science, statism is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation and the means of production. While in use sinc ...
. The Turkish government imposes some restrictions on
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s and other religious groups, as well as Muslim religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities.Turkey: International Religious Freedom Report 2007
United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.


Religious demography

According to the Turkish government, 90 percent of the population is
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
(predominantly
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
).
The World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...
lists 99.8 percent of Turkey's population as Muslim. The government recognizes three minority religious communities:
Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
Christians,
Armenian Apostolic , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...
Christians and
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s (although other non-Muslim communities exist). The 2006 report of the
U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
enumerated the following religious minorities in Turkey: These figures were largely repeated in the 2009 U.S. Department of State reportTurkey: International Religious Freedom Report 2009
United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, released on 26 October 2009, accessed on 10 November 2009
with a difference of up to 3,000 Greek Orthodox Christians with an additional 3,000
Chaldean Christians Chaldean Catholics () ( syr, ܟܲܠܕܵܝܹ̈ܐ ܩܲܬܘܿܠܝܼܩܵܝܹ̈ܐ), also known as Chaldeans (, ''Kaldāyē''), Chaldo-Assyrians or Assyro-Chaldeans, are modern Assyrian adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church, which originates fr ...
. The number of Syriac Christians and Yazidis in the southeast was once high; however, due to government pressure and the war with the
Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...
(PKK), many Syriac Christians migrated to Istanbul, Western Europe and North and South America. According to Turkish sociologist Ahmet Taşğın, Yazidis in Turkey numbered 22,632 in 1985; by 2000, the population had dropped to 423. Taşğın said that 23,546 Syriac Christians lived in Turkey in 1985 and 2,010 in 2001. As a signatory of the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...
, Turkey recognizes the civil, political and cultural rights of non-Muslim minorities. In practice, the country recognizes
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
and
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
religious minorities but does not grant them all the rights stipulated in the treaty.
Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
-
Bektashi The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...
and Câferî MuslimsThe World of the Alevis: Issues of Culture and Identity, Gloria L. Clarke Latin
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
are not officially recognized.


Status of religious freedom


Legal and policy frameworks

The 1928 constitution established the country as a secular state and provides for freedom of belief and worship and the private dissemination of religious ideas. However, other constitutional provisions for the integrity of the secular state restrict these rights. The constitution prohibits discrimination on religious grounds. The two main Islamic streams in Turkey are Sunni and
Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
. Alevi are the minority in Turkey, estimated at 17 percent of the Muslim population. During the late 1970s, violent clashes occurred due to conflict between these two Islamic branches.See the Amnesty International report
Prosecution of Religious Activists
published in November 1987 (AI INDEX: EUR 44/74/87) reproduced in a private Wiki, accessed on 21 September 2009
In December 1978 militants in
Kahramanmaraş Marash (Armenian: Մարաշ), officially Kahramanmaraş () and historically Germanicea (Greek: Γερμανίκεια), is a city in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey and the administrative center of Kahramanmaraş Province. Before 1973, Kahrama ...
agitated the Sunni population against the Alevi inhabitants of the town, and more than 100 people were killed. On 2 July 1993, Alevi intellectuals were attacked in Sivas; the
Sivas massacre The Sivas massacre ( tr, Sivas Katliamı) or Madimak massacre ( tr, Madımak Katliamı) refers to the events of July 2, 1993 at the Hotel Madimak (''Otel Madımak'') in Sivas, Turkey, which resulted in the killing of 37 people, mostly Alevi intel ...
resulted in the deaths of 37 people. Religious education is compulsory at the primary and secondary levels, according to Article 24 of the constitution, and Sunni
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
predominates. A number of Alevis alleged discrimination in the government's failure to include their doctrines and beliefs in religious courses. In October 2007, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in favor of an Alevi parent who filed suit in 2004 claiming that the mandatory religious courses violated religious freedom. The government then added a 10-page overview of Aleviism to the textbook for the final year of religious instruction.See th
2008 Human Rights Report
of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (US State Department) of 25 February 2009; accessed on 21 September 2009
In December 2008, the Minister of Culture participated in the opening of the first Alevi Institute and apologised to the Alevis for past sufferings caused by the state. In January 2009, the Prime Minister attended an Alevi fast-breaking ceremony for the second consecutive year. The government held workshops aimed at openly discussing Alevi problems and expectations. The Turkish government oversees Muslim religious facilities and education through its
Directorate of Religious Affairs The Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey ( tr, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, normally referred to simply as the Diyanet) is an official state institution established in 1924 by the orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk under article 136 of t ...
, under the authority of the Prime Minister. The directorate regulates the operation of the country's 77,777 registered mosques and employs local and provincial imams (who are civil servants). Sunni imams are appointed and paid by the state. The
Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
s pray in '' cemevleri'' (gathering places), which have no legal status as places of worship. However, the
Kuşadası Kuşadası () is a large resort town on Turkey's Aegean Sea, Aegean coast, and the center of the seaside district of the same name within Aydın Province. Kuşadası is south of İzmir, and about from Aydın. The municipality's primary industry ...
and
Tunceli Tunceli ( ku, Dêrsim) is a city and municipality in eastern Turkey. It is the capital of Tunceli Province, located in the middle of the Eastern Anatolia Region. The city has a Kurds, Kurdish-majority population and was a site of the Dersim rebel ...
municipalities ruled in 2008 that Alevi ''cemevleri'' are places of worship. Three municipal councils recognised ''cemevleri'' as places of worship, granting them the same financial advantages as mosques. Administrative courts in Antalya, Ankara and Istanbul ruled that Alevi students should be exempted from attending the mandatory religion and ethics course, and a similar ruling by the Izmir administrative court was confirmed by the Council of State.Turkey 2009 Progress Report
by the European Commission for Enlargement, dated 14 October; accessed on 10 November 2009
In 2009 the state TV channel, TRT, announced its plan to air programs reflecting the interests of the
Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
minority. A separate government agency, the General Directorate for Foundations (GDF), regulates activities of non-Muslim religious groups and their affiliated churches, monasteries, synagogues and related religious property. The GDF recognizes 161 "minority foundations", including Greek Orthodox foundations with about 61 sites,
Armenian Orthodox , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...
foundations with about 50 sites, and Jewish foundations with 20 sites and Syriac Christian, Chaldean, Bulgarian Orthodox, Georgian and Maronite foundations. The GDF also regulates Muslim charitable religious foundations, including schools, hospitals and orphanages, assessing whether they are operating within their stated objectives. In 1936, the government required all foundations to declare their sources of income. In 1974, amid political tensions over
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, the High Court of Appeals ruled that minority foundations had no right to acquire properties beyond those listed in the 1936 declarations. The court ruling introduced a process in which the state seized control of properties acquired after 1936. Minority religious groups, particularly the Greek and Armenian Orthodox communities, have lost a number of properties to the state in the past. In many cases, the government has expropriated property on the grounds that it is not being utilized. At least two appeals were filed in this regard: the Fener Boys School and the Buyukada Orphanage (the latter closed in 1964). These cases are often appealed to the
Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
(Danıştay) and, if unsuccessful there, to the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
(ECHR). On July 8, 2008, the ECHR ruled that Turkey had violated the Ecumenical Patriarchate's property rights to the orphanage on
Büyükada Büyükada ( el, Πρίγκηπος or Πρίγκιπος, rendered ''Prinkipos'' or ''Prinkipo''), meaning "Big Island" in Turkish, is the largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, with an area of about . It is offic ...
. In compliance with this ruling, the deed to the building was returned to the ecumenical patriarchate on November 29, 2010. The law restricting religious property rights was amended in 2002 to allow minority foundations to acquire property, but the government continued to apply an article allowing it to expropriate properties in areas where the local non-Muslim population drops significantly or where the foundation is deemed to no longer perform the function for which it was created. There is no specific minimum threshold for such a population drop, which is left to the discretion of the GDF. This is problematic for small populations (such as the Greek Orthodox community), since they maintain more properties than the local community needs; many are historic or significant to the Orthodox world.
Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
, Armenian Orthodox and
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
religious groups may operate schools under the supervision of the Education Ministry. The curricula of the schools include information unique to the cultures of the groups. The Ministry reportedly verifies if the child's father or mother is from that minority community before the child may enroll. Other non-Muslim minorities do not have schools of their own. The Caferis, the country's principal Shi'a community (between 500,000 and 1,000,000, concentrated in eastern Turkey and Istanbul), do not face restrictions on their religious freedom. They build and operate their own mosques and appoint their own imams; however, as with the Alevis, their places of worship have no legal status and receive no support from the Diyanet. Churches operating in Turkey generally face administrative challenges to employ foreign church personnel, apart from the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and congregations linked to the diplomatic community. These administrative challenges, restrictions on training religious leaders and difficulty obtaining visas have led to a decrease in the Christian communities. In December 2008, the government provided year-long work permits to non-Turkish
clerics Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
at the Ecumenical Greek Patriarchate. Non-citizen clerics had used tourist visas, requiring them to leave the country every three months.


Restrictions on religious freedom

Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion; however, state policy imposes some restrictions on religious groups and religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities. According to the human-rights organization
Mazlumder The Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for the Oppressed (known as MAZLUMDER an abbreviation of its Turkish name: "İnsan Hakları ve Mazlumlar İçin Dayanışma Derneği") is a non-governmental human rights organization based in Turkey. ...
, the military charged individuals with lack of discipline for activities which included Muslim prayers or marriage to a woman who wore a
headscarf A headscarf is a scarf covering most or all of the top of a person's, usually women's, hair and head, leaving the face uncovered. A headscarf is formed of a triangular cloth or a square cloth folded into a triangle, with which the head is cov ...
. In December 2008 the General Staff dismissed 24 people, five for alleged Islamic fundamentalism. In November 2006 the government reported 37 military dismissals, two of which were said to pertain to religious extremism. An additional 17 were reportedly expelled in August 2006 for unspecified reasons. In August 2008, the government reported no military dismissals; there were 24 in December, five for alleged Islamic fundamentalism. In July 2007,
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
received a letter of certification confirming their registration as the Association for the Support of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2007, police arrested 25-year-old Witness Feti Demirtas and sent him to prison nine times for conscientiously objecting to military service (as his religion requires). At the end of June 2009, two Jehovah's Witnesses remained in prison for conscientious objection. One, Baris Gormez, was charged six times with "disobedience of orders" and had been in prison since 2007. According to Jehovah's Witnesses officials, harassment of their members included arrests, court hearings, verbal and physical abuse and psychiatric evaluation. 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. Violations are punishable by imprisonment of from one month to one year, or three months to two years if others are incited to disobey the law. In 2009, the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul continued its efforts to reopen the
Halki seminary The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki ( el, Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης and tr, Ortodoks Ruhban Okulu), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki ( Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the ...
on the island of Heybeli in the Sea of Marmara. The seminary was closed in 1971 when the patriarchate, to avoid the seminary's administration by the state, refused a government demand to nationalize. In March 2007, the Yedikule Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital Foundation in Istanbul dropped an ECHR claim when the government agreed to return two properties and pay about $20,000 (€15,000) in court costs. Members of the Turkish parliament were prevented from accessing the website of Diyarbakır Church (cited as "pornography"), and other
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
church websites were also blocked. The real reason for the blocks was believed to be anti-Christian sentiment. In 2007, authorities continued enforcing a long-term ban on the wearing of headscarves by students at universities and by civil servants in public buildings. The
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
has interpreted secularism as not permitting a person to wear religious symbols (such as headscarves or
crosses Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...
) in government and public institutions, such as public schools and state universities. According to a 5 June 2008 ruling, parliament violated the constitutional principle of secularism when it passed amendments (supported by the AKP and the MHP) to lift the headscarf ban on university campuses.Turkey: Constitutional Court Ruling Upholds Headscarf Ban - Religion and Expression Rights Denied, Broader Reform Agenda Endangered
''
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
'', June 7, 2008 This ruling was criticised by those promoting women's education in the country.
In its November 10, 2005 decision on '' Leyla Şahin v. Turkey'', the Grand Chamber of the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
ruled that the ban was "legitimate" to prevent the influence of religion in state affairs. However,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
supported "lifting the current restrictions on headscarves in university on the grounds that the prohibition is an unwarranted infringement on the right to religious practice. Moreover, this restriction of dress, which only applies to women, is discriminatory and violates their right to education, freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and privacy". Religious affiliation is listed on national identity cards, despite Article 24 of the 1982 constitution which forbids the compulsory disclosure of religious affiliation. Members of some religious groups, such as the Bahá'í, are unable to state their religious affiliation on their cards because it is not included among the options; they have made their concerns known to the government. Despite a 2006 regulation allowing people to leave the religion section of their identity cards blank or change their religious affiliation by written application, the government continued to restrict applicant choice of religion; applicants must choose Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Confucian, Taoist, Buddhist, Religionless, Other or Unknown as their religious affiliation. According to Turkey's country report from the U.S. Department of State for 2007 and 2008, there were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees. On 24 July 2009, Turkish police arrested nearly 200 suspected members of
Hizb ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabicحزب التحرير (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Isl ...
. In November 2007 five members of the group were detained in Adana, and in June 2008 eight alleged members were detained in Erzurum.


Abuses of religious freedom

After the 18 April 2007 killing of three Christians in Malatya, Turkish victim Uğur Yüksel was denied a Christian burial and received an Islamic Alevi burial. Turkish victim Necati Aydın was buried in a Protestant churchyard in Izmir. The governor of Malatya was initially hesitant to permit the burial of the German victim in Malatya, telling his widow that no Christian should be buried in Turkish soil. After negotiations between German and Turkish government officials, the victim was buried in a private Armenian cemetery in Malatya. In October 2006 a prosecutor pressed criminal charges against Hakan Taştan and Turan Topal (Muslim converts to Christianity) for violating Article 301 ("insulting Turkishness"), inciting hatred against Islam and compiling data on private citizens for a Bible correspondence course. If convicted, the men could be sentenced to six months to three years in prison. On the basis of reports that the defendants were approaching grade- and high-school students in Silivri and attempting to convert them to Christianity, police searched one man's home, went to the men's office and confiscated two computers, books and papers. The three plaintiffs said that the Christians called Islam a "primitive and fabricated religion" and the Turks a "cursed people". The accused denied all charges. On 28 May 2009, court proceedings continued in the 2006 case against two Muslim converts to Christianity charged with "insulting Turkishness" in violation of Article 301 of the penal code, inciting hatred of Islam and secretly compiling data on private citizens for a Bible correspondence course. The court called five witnesses to appear at the next hearing, set for 15 October 2009. During the hearing, some witnesses testified that they did not know the defendants. The court in
Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside the urban core of Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The ...
adjourned the hearing until 28 January 2010 to hear three more witnesses.


Societal abuses and discrimination

Societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice were reported, with religious pluralism widely viewed as a threat to Islam and "national unity". A few non-
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Muslims, Christians, Bahá'ís and members of other religious communities faced suspicion and mistrust. Anti-missionary and anti-Christian rhetoric by government officials and national media, such as ''
Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...
'' and ''
Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...
'', appears to have continued. Government ministers such as Mehmet Aydın, Minister of State in charge of religious affairs, called missionaries "separatist and destructive". Religiously-motivated attacks on people were reported. Best known are the 2007 assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul on 19 January and the killings of three Christians in Malatya on 18 April. Details on religiously-motivated attacks on persons can be found in the annual reports of the U.S. Department of State for 2007, 2008 and 2009.


2016: The failure of the coup and the Gülen movement

The government was held responsible for the July 15 coup attempt for the exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen and his movement, which the government considered a terrorist organization. After a coup attempt, the government detained more than 75,000 government officials and fired 3,600 staff from Diyanet because of alleged links to Gülen and a coup attempt.


2017: Post-failure of the coup and state of emergency

The state of emergency was caused in response to the coup attempt in July 2016 and remained in force during 2017. The Turkish government said the coup attempt was organized by Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen and his movement, which is considered a terrorist organization. During 2017 the government suspended or fired thousands of public officials from state institutions, including more than 1000 ''Diyanet'' employees. The government continues to try individuals because it "openly disrespects the religious beliefs of a group" and continues to limit the rights of minority non-Muslims ", especially those not recognized under the
Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...
in 1923. Non-Sunni Sects such as
Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
was treated unfairly and said that Alevi was a heterodox "sect" of Muslims, and did not recognize Alevi houses of worship. Besides Alevi, the government also closed two Shia Jaferidan television stations and accused of spreading "terrorist propaganda". Religious minorities said they continued to have difficulty obtaining exemptions from obligatory religious classes in public schools, operations or opening houses of worship and in dealing with land and property disputes.The government also limits the efforts of minority religious groups to train their clerics.United States Department of State
/ref>


See also

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Human rights in Turkey Human rights in Turkey are protected by a variety of international law treaties, which take precedence over domestic legislation, according to Article 90 of the 1982 Constitution. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR ...
* Istanbul pogroms * List of churches in Turkey *
List of mosques in Turkey This is a list of mosques in Turkey. As of March 2013, there were 82,693 mosques in Turkey. The province with the highest number of mosques (3,113) was Istanbul Province, Istanbul and the lowest number (117) was Tunceli Province.List of synagogues in Turkey This is a list of notable synagogues in Turkey. Istanbul {, class="wikitable sortable" style="border-collapse: collapse;" , - !Name !Founded !class="unsortable", Image 1 !class="unsortable", Image 2 !class="unsortable", Image 3 , - , Ahrida Syna ...
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Racism in Turkey In Turkey, racism and ethnic discrimination are present in its society and throughout its history, including institutional racism against non- Muslim and non- Sunni minorities. This appears mainly in the form of negative attitudes and actions by ...
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Varlık Vergisi The Varlık Vergisi (, "wealth tax" or "capital tax") was a tax mostly levied on non-Muslim citizens in Turkey in 1942, with the stated aim of raising funds for the country's defense in case of an eventual entry into World War II. The underlying re ...


References


Further reading


Academia

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Media

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External links

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Annual Reports
US State Commission on International Freedom of Religion- Turkey {{Asia topic, Freedom of religion in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
Human rights in Turkey Religion in Turkey