Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Many Faces of Official Islam in Turkey

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Governing Islam Abroad

  • 344 Accesses

Abstract

Since the founding of the republic in 1923, the Turkish state has imposed an official monopoly over the religious field in the name of secularism. Unlike most studies on Islam and politics in modern Turkey, this chapter focuses on the role of the principal state religious institution, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), and its fluctuating relationship to unofficial Islamic currents. The historically complex relationships between the Diyanet and non-state actors show that the categories of “official Islam” and “unofficial Islam” are and have always been contingent on the changing political interests of state actors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aydın, Mehmet. 2008. “Diyanet’s Global Vision.” The Muslim World 98 (2–3): 164–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Azak, Umut. 2010. Islam and Secularism in Turkey: Kemalism, Religion and the Nation State. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardakoğlu, Ali. 2008. Religion and Society: New Perspectives from Turkey. Ankara: Presidency of Religious Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bein, Amit. 2011. Ottoman Ulema, Turkish Republic: Agents of Change and Guardians of Tradition. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, Niyazi. 1964. The Development of Secularism in Turkey. Montréal: McGill University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bilici, Faruk. 2005. “L’islam à la fin de l’empire ottoman et dans la république kémaliste: diversité et modération.” In La Turquie, edited by Semih Vaner, 291–310. Paris: Fayard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgat, François. 1988. L’islamisme au Maghreb: la voix du Sud. Paris: Karthala.

    Google Scholar 

  • Çakır, Ruşen, İrfan Bozan, and Balkan Talu. 2004. İmam Hatip Liseleri: Efsaneler ve Gerçekler. İstanbul: TESEV.

    Google Scholar 

  • Çaymaz, Birol. 2002. Les mouvements islamiques turcs à Paris. Paris: L’Harmattan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı. 2016. “Extraordinary Religious Council Resolutions.” Ankara: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2017. “Personel Sayısı 2006–2016.” Ankara: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2018. “Faaliyet Raporu - 2017.” Ankara: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebaugh, Helen Rose. 2010. The Gülen Movement: A Sociological Analysis of a Civic Movement Rooted in Moderate Islam. London: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdem, Gazi. 2008. “Religious Services in Turkey: From the Office of Şeyhülislām to the Diyanet.” The Muslim World 98 (2–3): 199–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gözaydın, İştar. 2006. “A Religious Administration to Secure Secularism: The Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.” Marburg Journal of Religion 11 (1): 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2009. Diyanet: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nde Dinin Tanzimi. İstanbul: İletişim.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendrick, Joshua D. 2013. Gülen: The Ambiguous Politics of Market Islam in Turkey and the World. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • İpekçi, Abdi. 1969. “Birlik Partisi Başkanı Hüseyin Balan Diyor Ki: Alevî’lere Küfrediliyor.” Milliyet, October 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kara, İsmail. 1999. “Ein Behörde im Spannungsfeld von Religion und Staat: Das Präsidium für religiöse Angelegenheiten.” In Turkish Islam and Europe = Türkischer Islam und Europa: Europe and Christianity as Reflected in Turkish Muslim Discourse & Turkish Muslim Life in the Diaspora, edited by Günter Seufert and Jean Jacques Waardenburg, 213–40. Stuttgart: Franz-Steiner-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2008. Cumhuriyet Türkiyesi’nde Bir Mesele Olarak İslâm 1. İstanbul: Dergâh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karasipahi, Sena. 2009. Muslims in Modern Turkey: Kemalism, Modernism and the Revolt of the Islamic Intellectuals. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mardin, Şerif. 1989. Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey: The Case of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1993. “The Nakshibendi Order of Turkey.” In Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance, edited by Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, 204–32. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maritato, Chiara. 2016. “Reassessing Women, Religion and the Turkish Secular State in the Light of the Professionalisation of Female Preachers (Vaizeler) in Istanbul.” Religion, State and Society 44 (3): 258–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massicard, Elise. 2005. L’autre Turquie: Le mouvement aléviste et ses territoires. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milliyet. 2006. “Diyanet İçinde Tarikat Bağı Olanlar Belirleniyor.” Milliyet, October 25. http://www.milliyet.com.tr/diyanet-icinde-tarikat-bagi-olanlar-belirleniyor/siyaset/haberdetayarsiv/25.10.2006/175581/default.htm.

  • Özdalga, Elizabeth. 2010. “Transformation of Sufi-Based Communities in Modern Turkey: The Nakşibendis, the Nurcus, and the Gülen Community.” In Turkey’s Engagement with Modernity: Conflict and Change in the Twentieth Century, edited by Celia Kerslake, Kerem Öktem, and Philip Robins, 69–91. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Öztürk, Ahmet Erdi. 2016. “Turkey’s Diyanet under AKP Rule: From Protector to Imposer of State Ideology?” Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 16 (4): 619–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paçacı, Mehmet, and Yasin Aktay. 1999. “75 Years of Higher Religious Education in Modern Turkey.” The Muslim World 89 (3–4): 389–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parla, Taha, and Andrew Davison. 2004. Corporatist Ideology in Kemalist Turkey. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roy, Olivier. 1992. L’échec de l’islam politique. Paris: Seuil.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shankland, David. 2003. The Alevis in Turkey: The Emergence of a Secular Islamic Tradition. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunier, Thijl, Nico Landman, Heleen van der Linden, Nazlı Bilgili, and Alper Bilgili. 2011. “Diyanet: The Turkish Directorate for Religious Affairs in a Changing Environment.” Amsterdam: VU University Amsterdam, Utrecht University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turkey Ministry of Finance. 2018. “2006–2017 Yılları Merkezi Yönetim Bütçe Ödenek ve Harcamalar Fonksiyonel Sınıflandırma II. Düzey.” Ankara: Turkish Ministry of Finance.

    Google Scholar 

  • Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi. 2013. “2014 Yılı Merkezi Yönetim Bütçe Kanunu Tasırısı ile 2012 Yılı Merkezi Yönetim Kesin Hesap Kanunu Tasarısı Plan ve Bütçe Komisyonu Görüşme Tutanakları.” Ankara: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Türkiye Cumhuriyeti. 1924a. “Hilafetin İlgasına ve Hanedanı Osmaninin Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Memaliki Haricine Çıkarılmasına Dair Kanun 431.” Resmi Gazete 63: 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1924b. “Şeriye ve Evkaf ve Erkanı Harbiye-i Umumiye Vekaletlerinin İlgasına Dair Kanun 429.” Resmi Gazete 63: 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1972. “Anayasa Mahkemesi Kararı 1971/76.” Resmi Gazete 14216: 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, Max. 1968. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. New York: Bedminster Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yankaya, Dilek. 2013. La nouvelle bourgeoisie islamique: Le modèle turc. Paris: Presses universitaires de France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yavuz, M. Hakan. 2003. Islamic Political Identity in Turkey. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeni Şafak. 2007. “Diyanet’e 15 Bin Kadro Müjdesi.” Yeni Şafak, March 26. http://yenisafak.com.tr/gundem-haber/diyanete-15-bin-kadro-mujdesi-26.03.2007–37290.

  • Zilfi, Madeline C. 2006. “The Ottoman Ulema.” In The Cambridge History of Turkey. Volume 3: The Later Ottoman Empire 1603–1839, edited by Suraiya N. Faroqhi, 209–25. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zürcher, Erik. 2004. Turkey: A Modern History. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

    Benjamin Bruce

Authors
  1. Benjamin Bruce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bruce, B. (2019). The Many Faces of Official Islam in Turkey. In: Governing Islam Abroad . The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78664-3_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation