God Is Dying in Turkey as Well

Application of Secularization Theory to a Non-Christian Society

Bibliographic Data

ID20251765
AuthorsVolkan Ertit (0000-0002-6114-2606, Aksaray University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume4
Issue1
Pages192-211
Publication date2018-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOpen Theology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2300-6579 • E-ISSN: 2300-6579
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/opth-2018-0014
OpenAlexW2803501666
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited27

It has been stated in academic studies and popular media that Islam began its rise in dominance in Turkey with the accession of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power in 2002 under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. However, contrary to claims of societal Islamization, in light of quantitative and qualitative studies this study argues that despite the AKP and its leader Erdoğan being in power, the following evidence has been observed in Turkey: praying rates have decreased, extramarital sexual relationship has become prevalent, the number of mosques per person has decreased, the belief in virginity is a point of honour for fewer people, people‘s clothes have become more flatteringly formfitting and more attractive, including women’s head-scarves; secular experts rather than religious officials are being sought for help concerning problems in daily life, homosexuality has become more socially acceptable visible, traditional family structures has been shattered. Therefore, it is claimed that AKP (or Erdoğan) has failed in efforts to Islamize Turkey over the past 15 years (2002-2017) despite having all the governmental means and opportunities to do so. This study argues that the classical theory of secularization, which claims that modernization leads to secularization, can still explain not only the social transformation seen in historically Christian and Western European countries and their offshoots, but also the social transformation of Turkey, a Muslim-majority country that has been governed for the past 15 years by a political party with clear Islamic sensitivities

Honour · Islam · Modernization theory · Political science · Politics · Secularism · Secularization · Sociology · Theology · Gender Studies · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Religion and Society Interactions · Turkey's Politics and Society

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