Religion and Citizenship Education: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

In order to understand the present situation of religion and citizenship education in Turkey, a brief overview of the history of religious education in modern Turkey is required. One of the most controversial issues in Turkey since the establishment of the republic in 1923 has been the question of religious education. Why is this so? While several answers can be given to this question, the key to understanding the issue of religious education is the understanding of secularism in Turkey. One segment of the population argues that secularism prohibits the state from intervening in religious issues at all. Their operative definition of secularism is that the state and religious matters should be completely separated from each other. A larger segment of the population supports the opposite position. They believe that the teaching of religion must be statutory at all public and private schools, that religious men and women should be educated by the state, and that the religious needs of people should be adequately met. Because this group comprises the overwhelming Muslim majority in Turkey, the state cannot ignore the teaching of Islam in public schools.