Irreligion in Turkey

The religious beliefs of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, have been a source of controversy; some sources assert that he was irreligious.[1][2]

Irreligion in Turkey refers to the extent of the lack, rejection of, or indifference towards religion in the Republic of Turkey. Based on surveys, Islam is the predominant religion[3] and irreligious people form a minority in Turkey. Precise estimates of the share of deists, atheists, agnostics, and other unaffiliated people in the population vary, though in survey averages they constitute a larger percentage than Christians and Jews in the country.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

One study in Turkey reported that 95% believe in God while 74% identify as "religious".[10][11] Another study conducted by the French company Ipsos which interviewed 17,180 adults across 22 countries, stated that atheists accounted for 7% of those who were interviewed from Turkey, while agnostics accounted for 3%.[12]

  1. ^ ...Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the secular Turkish Republic. He said: "I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea..." The Antipodean Philosopher: Interviews on Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand, Graham Oppy, Lexington Books, 2011, ISBN 0739167936, p. 146.
  2. ^ Phil Zuckerman, John R. Shook, The Oxford Handbook of Secularism, Oxford University Press, 2017, ISBN 0199988455, p. 167.
  3. ^ a b Girit, Selin (10 May 2018). "Losing their religion: The young Turks rejecting Islam". BBC News. London. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  4. ^ McKernan, Bethan (29 April 2020). "Turkish students increasingly resisting religion, study suggests". The Guardian. London. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  5. ^ Sarfati, Yusuf (15 April 2019). "State Monopolization of Religion and Declining Piety in Turkey". Berkley Forum. Washington, D.C.: Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs (Georgetown University). Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. ^ Bekdil, Burak (20 May 2021). "Turks May Be Rediscovering the Merits of the Secular Paradigm". BESA Center Perspectives. Tel Aviv: Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (Bar-Ilan University). Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. ^ Akyol, Mustafa (12 June 2020). "How Islamists are Ruining Islam". Current Trends in Islamist Ideology. Washington, D.C.: Hudson Institute. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. ^ Bilici, Mucahit (Fall 2018). "The Crisis of Religiosity in Turkish Islamism". Middle East Report. No. 288. Tacoma, Washington: MERIP. pp. 43–45. ISSN 0899-2851. JSTOR 45198325. OCLC 615545050. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ^ Külsoy, Ahmet (6 May 2018). "What is pushing half of Turkey towards Deism?". Ahval News. Cyprus. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Religious Trends". Archived from the original on 5 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Research:65 percent of Turkey believes in god, 54 percent is 'religious'(In Turkish)". Diken.com.tr. 6 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Fazil Say and Turkey's war on atheism". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2015.