The Ebb and Flow of Religious Education in Turkey since February 28, 1997

This study aims to analyze and assess the ebb and flow of religious ed-ucation in Turkey since February 28, 1997, after the military intervention also known as a postmodern coup d ́état. Although the study focuses on the period after February 28, 1997, it also addresses the historical and political background relevant to this period. Accordingly, the phases of religious education since the early years of the Turkish Republic are treated briefly. In addition to structural and institutional changes regarding religious education, the qualitative and quantitative changes in the field after February 28 are also analyzed. The study reveals a close relationship between the changes in religious education policies and the changes in political life in Turkey. Therefore, the process of February 28 has transformed social and economic life, military structures and education, whereas the legal and structural changes in education have influenced religious education above all. This effect is clearly observed on both religious education institutions and students in these schools. The new era of political changes that began in 2002 introduced a counter-acceleration in religious education, as in the country ́s general politics. Consequently, fields restricted during the process of the February 28 reforms again underwent a period of expansion. The study concludes that the governmental role in religious education should be minimized, and civil religious education should be supported to become stronger so that the field of religious education can avoid such influence from political changes

Political science · Politics · Religious education · Religious life · Sociology · Turkish · Turkish republic · Gender Studies · Historical Turkish Studies · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Law · Religious studies · Turkey's Politics and Society

• Education, religiosity, and secularisation

  Open Access•Yasemin Ipek•British Journal of Religious…•2026

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