Secularism in Turkey
In 1923 with the establishment of the Turkish Republic and under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey rapidly transitioned in both politics and identity. One of the guiding sets of principles is the altı ok (six arrows), which refer to Republicanism (cumhuriyetçilik), Populism (halkçılık), Nationalism (milliyetçilik), Secularism (laiklik), Statism (devletçilik), and Reformism (devrimcilik). To the best of my knowledge (which is admittedly not that great) these concepts are invoked in a manner similar to how “liberty” or “democracy” or “American values” are talked about in an American political context, while they do have specific, narrow definitions, they have an almost emotional appeal and their meaning changes significantly depending on who’s speaking and to whom. The one that I want to talk about most here is secularism, laiklik (the Turkish word originating from French, laïque, cognate with lay or layman in English in contrast with clergy). Early Turkish Republican secularism was highly reactive to Islam and a lot of reforms were made to separate Islam from public life and secondarily to Turkicize Islam, even going so far as to have Turkish used rather than Arabic in many religious contexts (e.g. the call to prayer). This was not particularly well received and much of the Turkicization was reversed in 1950. Secularism and the separation of Islam from public life has a much more complex legacy with a myriad of individual opinions on it. In conversations I’ve had with people and some of the media I’ve seen online, feelings are mixed about secularism with some considering it an essential part of being Turkish and other considering it, well, the opposite and that Turkey should cease to be a secular country. Erdoğan is currently desecularizing much of the country according to a lot of American analyses [to be clear, I do not know how he is perceived in Turkey]. In the future, it will be interesting to see how secularism continues to change and develop in its role in Turkish governance and public life.
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