Discrimination Based on Religion: A Complex Story in Turkey

Abstract

Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people. Historically, when the term “discrimination based on religion” is used in the context of Turkey, mostly it covers the non-Muslim population. Turkey is a majority Muslim country, but also constitutionally a secular state of almost 100 years that guarantees substantial rights to religious minorities. However, discriminatory laws and gaps in practice remain severely. Moreover, discrimination is not only against non-Muslim religious individuals and groups. Having a de facto understanding of official Islam since the Ottoman past, all other approaches of Islam in Turkey have always been getting their share of discrimination. Most significantly the Alevi faith has been a subject of discrimination in terms of non-acknowledgement with repercussions in denial of venues of prayer and rituals, educational services, financial subsidies, to mention the least. Actually, freedom of religion has always been a thorny issue in Turkey. Even though in black letter law there exist a substantial number of regulations, discrimination in this regard has been very multi-layered in modern Turkey. In this chapter I would like to evaluate political and legal/judicial aspects of the issue in the context of human rights throughout the republican Turkey with glancing at its roots in the Ottoman past and by differentiating policies regarding religion with their impacts on various groups in society. It should certainly be noted that a freedom of a category also involves freedom from that category. In other words, I will be including non-believers, and their share in discrimination(s) based on religion in the chapter as well.