Freedom of religion in Turkey between secular and Islamic values : the situation of Christians

Abstract

Defence date: 26 January 2017 ; Examining Board: Professor Olivier Roy, EUI (Supervisor); Professor Nilüfer Göle, EHESS; Professor Şahin Alpay, Bahçeşehir University (Emeritus); Professor Donatella della Porta, fomerly EUI/SNS ; Freedom of religion has been a delicate issue since the foundation of the Turkish Republic, despite the principle of secularism stated in the country's constitution since 1937. This is especially evident in considering the status of non-Muslim minorities. After decades marked by assaults aimed at the non-Muslims of Turkey and confiscation of properties belonging to their communities, several reform packages were adopted by the Turkish government in order better to secure their religious freedoms. Recent developments signaled a change may be underway with regard to state's approach to religion in general, and non-Muslims in particular. Despite the growing body of literature focusing on the recent democratization process in Turkey, only a few studies found the case of non-Muslims worthy of including in their analysis, as they are often perceived to be insignificant due to their small share among the general population. In accounting for recent developments visible in various fields such as civilmilitary relations, Kurdish issue and religion-state relations, a vast majority scholarship has perceived the European Union accession process as the main anchor of this democratization process. Considering, however, that the recasting of freedom of religion has continued even after the stagnation of EU conditionality, alternative explanations must be explored. I argue that the recent process of recasting the parameters of religious freedoms can be solely explained by neither the role of EU conditionality nor the reading of developments through separate alternative models. Though recent years have witnessed several significant attempts combining various models in explaining the democratization process, no analysis to date has paid particular attention to religion and religious preferences, and I believe this leads to an insufficient understanding of recent developments in relation to freedom of religion. In order to gain a comprehensive perspective, I have adopted an analytically eclectic approach benefitting from External Incentives, Social Learning and Lesson Drawing models and demonstrated how together they have interactively shaped the parameters of freedom of religion throughout different time periods in the Turkish state. I have employed a within-casecomparison methodology of three time periods (1999-2005/ 2005-2010/ 2011-2015), embracing a process-tracing method. Taking the results generated by applying these models to the context in Turkey, I contend that EU conditionality was the initial motive behind the reform process in the first time period analyzed, while growth of social dynamics has been observed only during the second period. Finally, the lesson drawing model, aka the AKP's preferences, have played a decisive role throughout all of the time periods examined.