‘Moderate perception of Islam’ and the Turkish model of the Diyanet: the president's statement1

Abstract In today's debate on Islam and modernity, Turkey offers an excellent case study to find the answers to a number of questions that relate to religion and civil society as well as to the significance of Turkey's unique position in the Islamic world. What makes Turkey different from other Muslim countries? What are the sources of moderate perception and understanding of Islam in Turkey? Can Islam and democracy co‐exist? How far can democracy establish freedom for religious diversity? This paper attempts to seek answers to these various questions. Notes This paper was presented at the international conference on 'Moderation in Islam', Middle East Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, 21–22 February 2004 Talip Küçükcan, 'State, Islam and Religious Liberty in Modern Turkey: Reconfiguration of Religion in the Public Sphere', Brigham Young University Law Review, Vol. 2003, No. 2, 2003, p. 475. For a detailed examination of the imperial legacy on Turkish Republic, see M. Meeker, A Nation of Empire the Ottoman Legacy of Turkish Modernity, Berkeley: California University Press, 2002, pp. 3–85, 372–396. Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, London: Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 418. For estimated numbers of non‐Muslims in Turkey, see Kucukcan, 'State, Islam and Religious Liberty', op. cit., p. 502. For an extensive analysis of the variety of religious trends and movements in Turkey, see Hakan Yavuz, Islamic Political Identity in Turkey, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003; Yasin Aktay, ed., Modern Türkiye'de Siyasi Düşünce: İslamcılık (Political Thought in Modern Turkey: Islamism), Vol. 6, Istanbul: Iletişim, 2004. See Ali Bardakoglu, 'İslam ve Demokrasi Üzerine' ('On Islam and Democracy'), İslamiyât, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1999, pp. 77–84. On the treatment of non‐Muslim communities under the Ottomans, see Kemal H. Karpat, 'Millets and Nationality: The Roots of the Incongruity of Nation and State in the Post‐Ottoman Era', in eds B. Braude and B. Lewis, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, The Functioning of a Plural Society, Vol. 1, New York: Holmes–Meier, 1982, pp. 141–142; T. Kucukcan, 'State, Islam and Religious Liberty', op. cit., pp. 480–485. For the legal status of non‐Muslims in the Ottoman Empire, see M. Macit Kenanoglu, 'Osmanlı Devletinde Millet Sistemi ve Gayrimüslimlerin Hukuki Statüleri (1453–1856)' ('Millet System and the Legal Status of Non‐Muslims in the Ottoman State'), unpublished PhD thesis, Marmara University, 2001. See Ali Bardakoglu, 'İslam Kültüründe Din ve Vicdan Özgürlüğü' ('Freedom of Religion and Conscience in Islamic Culture'), in Osmanlı Devletinde Din ve Vicdan Özgürlüğü (Freedom of Religion and Conscience in the Ottoman Empire), Istanbul: Isav, 2000, pp. 41–57.