Turkey in the 1920s

Topic B: Secularization
Chair: Hannah Jones
Vice Chairs: Carol Shou & Ilayda Ozsan
Crisis Staffers: Colleen Cassingham & Medha
Imam
April 10 13, 2014

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Secularization
Introduction:
When Mustafa Kemal became the Turkish Republics first President, he introduced
radical reforms to transform Turkey into a secular state. Though the population of Turkey is
about 99% Muslim, Kemal believed that for the Republic to become a successful modern nation,
it would have to cut its institutionalized religious ties and develop as a secular country instead.
Ataturk and his government executed this secularization through a variety of new policies,
including abolishing the Caliphate (an Islamic state that possesses an individual known as a
caliph, the supreme religious and political leader of that state) through the 1924 Constitution.
Moreover, a 1928 amendment to the 1924 Constitution negated Islam as the religion of the state.
The secularization process was taken further when the government restricted the use of
religious garb, banned influential Sufi orders, secularized education, [and] nationalized religious
foundations1 The government also designed an overhaul of the language system by creating a
new Latin-based alphabet to replace the existing alphabet, which reflected the countrys Islamic
ties. Furthermore, secularizing the country meant eliminating existing Islamic laws in favor of
new secular laws that were inspired by European legal codes and that had a huge impact in
altering daily life in Turkey.
Secularization is a significant topic in the 1920s in Turkey because it utterly redefined the
fundamental basis of the Turkish state and has continued to be controversial from the 1920s to
today. Given the radical nature of this process and the overwhelming cultural overhaul that
1

"Turkey: Ataturk and the Secular State." Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs. Georgetown
University, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/turkey-ataturk-and-the-secularstate>.

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ensued, the topic will be contentious along many lines. After the establishment of the Republic,
the country divided into two sections: the Islamist reformists and the Westerners. The presence
of individuals that would have been invested in varying degrees to the Islamic nature of Turkey
will provide controversy during the conference.
There were and continue to be many positive aspects of secularization in Turkey. For
example, Turkey was able to move forward in a progressive manner by allowing women better
opportunities in comparison to more traditional, un-secularized Islamic nations. However, there
were also less advantageous aspects of secularizing a nation that possesses a 99% majority
religion. For example, secularizing education and completely altering the Turkish language cut
off new Turkish generations from being able to access their cultural past and rich literary history.
On the other hand, the language revolution made learning the language much simpler, and
illiteracy rates dropped significantly. Understanding both the negative and positive effects that
secularization had on the country, delegates will be placed in the moment of Turkish history after
the creation of the Republic but before any of the major secularization policies had been
established. Therefore, delegates will have to decide what direction to take the country and how
to execute that vision.

Background and Current Situation:

Religion under the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire was a religious nation devoted to the inclusion of multiple
ethnicities and cultures. Under the Ottoman Empire, a diverse people were united by Islamic
ideology, Jihad, and the Islamic warrior code, which led to territorial expansion. The Sultan was
also known as the protector of Islam or the khalifah of the Muslim world, which reinforced the

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religious bureaucracy of the empire. The leaders of the states were trained through madrasas or
religious schools and were taught to be mindful of the needs of the government while also noting
the restrictions of Islamic law.
Although the empire focused on the religion of Islam, the heads of the states continued to
take ideas from various cultures in order to unite the people by augmenting the amount of loyalty
from non-Muslim groups. Instead of forcing the non-Muslim groups or communities to convert
to Islam, they were divided according to the millet system, which were communities based on
religious affiliation. The first millet was established in 1454, bringing the Orthodox Christians
together and giving their community substantial power to deal with their own affairs. Just as in
the case of the Orthodox Christians, the millet system allowed other religious minorities to rule
their own communities, yet still under the ultimate reign of the Ottoman Empire.
Furthermore, many of the non-Muslim communities were regulated by a tax or the
devshirme or gathering system. Introduced in the 14th century, this tax system dictated that some
conquered Christian communities had to give up 20 percent of their male children to be
converted to Islam and work as slaves of the state. Although the devshirme system was
criticized, it was also known for training the children for government service or military corps,
known as the Janissaries. The Sultan valued the slaves and counted on their loyalty.
Churches across the lands of the Ottoman Empire were converted into mosques if the
Muslims won a battle against the Christians. Although this conversion of institutions did occur,
the Ottoman leaders tolerated the Christian faith, and did not suppress it since Christians
accounted for a large percentage of the population and Islamic law demanded the respect of all

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religions. Under the rule of Mehmet, the empire made further efforts to bring Jews and other
religious groups, who were previously persecuted by the Orthodox Christians, to Turkey.
Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the Ottoman Empire absorbed lands where Islam was
highly concentrated. It expanded to include Arab regions such as Syria and Iraq and the holy
cities of Makkah, Medinah, and Jerusalem. Not only did the Sultans improve the aesthetics of the
holy cities, they also promoted the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca. During this time, the empire
maintained its wealth and stability even more by attracting a myriad of Muslim craftsman,
intellectuals, artists, and writers.
Unlike Ataturks reign, Turkey of the Ottoman Empire believed in the fundamental
importance of Islam in the government and everyday affairs. The Ottomans also believed in the
significance of tolerating other faiths, which made it possible for them to rule over other
religious communities in a stable manner. On the other hand, Ataturk believed in the
insignificance of Islam and blamed Islam for bringing the demise of the Turkish nation. Instead
of reinstating the religiosity of the nation, he promoted a nation that was unified on the basis of
nationalism and secularization.2

Political and Legal Changes under the Republic

Central to Ataturks reforms was the belief that Turkish society would have to westernize
itself both politically and culturally in order to modernize. Reforms began with the
modernization of the constitution, including executing the new Constitution of 1924 and
adapting European laws.
2

"Islam and the Ottoman Empire." Lost Islamic History. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://lostislamichistory.com/islam-and-the-ottoman-empire/>.

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The 1924 Constitution allowed the Turkish nation to exercise popular sovereignty through
representative democracy. This new system, which gave primacy to national independence and
popular sovereignty, established the offices of Prime Minister and President while placing
legislative power within a unicameral Grand National Assembly. The Assembly was elected by
direct election using proportional representation. The only political party was the "Peoples
Party," which was founded by Atatrk in the initial years of the Independence War and later
renamed the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyeti Halk Partisi, CHP).
A secular nation is officially neutral in matters of religion and claims to treat all its citizens
equally regardless of religion. Ataturk followed the European model of secularization, which
typically involves granting individual religious freedoms, disestablishing state religions, stopping
public funds used for religious purposes, freeing the legal and educational system from religious
control, and allowing political leadership to come to power regardless of religious beliefs.
On November 1, 1922, the Ottoman Sultanate was abolished by the Turkish Grand National
Assembly (TBMM) and Sultan Mehmed VI, departed the country. This allowed the Turkish
nationalist government in Ankara to become the sole governing entity in the nation. Then, in
1924 the government abolished the Ottoman Caliphate. The abolishment of the Caliphate
removed the highest religious-political position in the country. This act left the Muslim
brotherhoods, which were institutionalized under the convents, and the dervish lodges without
higher organizing structure and therefore left them much weaker.
To further establish the secular nature of the state, the new Republic abolished the sharia
courts on April 8, 1924, and an Italian-inspired penal code replaced the former Islamic-based
legal codes. Ankara became the new capital since Istanbul was correlated with the Ottoman
Empire.

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Secular Education
Ataturk believed that the old, heavily religious Ottoman education system would hold
back the process of modernization in Turkey. Therefore, the Turkish government passed the
1924 Law on Unification of National Education. This piece of legislation effectively abolished
religious education in the country while uniting Turkish education under state control. The 1924
law removed religious education by taking apart the existing Ottoman system and replacing it
with a new system heavily influenced by Western education systems. The law abolished the
madrasas, which are schools that study Arabic and the Quran through memorization. Even
religious content in higher education was abolished, and by the 1940s, religion was completely
removed from the university curriculum.3 In order to move away from the old Ottoman,
heavily Islamic educational system, the Turkish government invited the renowned American
education reformer John Dewey to help create a successful secular education system.4
The drastic Turkish education reforms elicited vocal support and opposition. On the one
hand, the new unified education system offered women education as their legal right, which the
previous Ottoman system had not done. For that reason, supporters of womens rights hailed the
1924 Law as a progressive success for women and girls. Religious leaders in the country, on the
other hand, protested the decision to abolish religious education in the country.
The Turkish elites influencing policy decisions during the establishment of the Republic
believed that education was the most effective means of cultivating the ideal new Turkish
3

Carlson, Marie, Annika Rabo, and Fatma Gk. Education in Multicultural Societies: Turkish and Swedish
Perspectives. Stockholm: Svenska Forskningsinstitutet I Istanbul, 2007. Google Books. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
http://books.google.com/books?id=0rOMfwBPHYwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false, 83.

4
Carlson, Rabo, and Gk, 84.

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citizen. The secularizing education law meant that the elites could imbue the Turks with the
system of values they were trying to propagate in society and allowing only limited exposure
to conflicting values, norms, and ideas.5 Essentially, the Turkish elites believed that by
offering a unified education system that was rid of religious and Ottoman influences, they would
have more control over their citizens. With this control over curriculum and school procedures,
the Turkish government would be able to cultivate the distinct Turkish identity while excluding
other values and identities. Furthermore, the education reformers in Turkey hoped that beyond
solidifying Turkish identity, that a secular education would train Turks to view the world with
scientific logic and reason. With these skills, those educated in Turkish schools could be
valuable agents of the Turkish modernization process.6

Language Reforms
Ataturk believed that his secular reforms would fail if the Turkish people could band
together behind a common religious identity. The biggest perceived threat was the narrative of
Turkish history, which, since the 900s, had been deeply intertwined with the Islamic religion. In
order to distance the new generation of Turks from their religious past, Ataturk advocated for
language reforms to make the past archaic and unreadable.7
Outwardly, however, Ataturk argued for language reforms to increase the literacy rate
among Turks, which was particularly low in the 1920s. The largest systemic change was a
5

Landau, Jacob M. Atatrk and the Modernization of Turkey. Boulder, CO: Westview U.a., 1984. Google Books.
Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
http://books.google.com/books?id=8_n93Kq5PwMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false, 106.
6
Carlson, Rabo, and Gk, 84.
7
"How Ataturk Made Turkey Secular | Lost Islamic History." Lost Islamic History. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://lostislamichistory.com/how-ataturk-made-turkey-secular/>.

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transition from Arabic letters to a Latin alphabet. Ataturk claimed that Western liberalism was
the road to progress, and a writing system more similar with that of Western languages would
foster easier communication with the Europeans and Western world. Literacy rates, in fact, did
increase with the conversion to the Latin alphabetbut mostly as a result of simplification of the
vocabulary.8
Even before Ataturks time, language reform had been an issue in Turkey. For the most
part, only upper-class Turks could read the written language, which differed greatly from the
vernacular used by the Turkish middle class. In 1908, there was a general consensus within the
government to establish the Turkish Language Association to amend the language. There were
three main philosophies for reform: the simplifiers wanted to replace more archaic, written words
with simpler ones used in everyday speech; the Turkicizers claimed that new words should be
created with Turkish suffixes and Arabic and Persian words in use should be incorporated into
the new Turkish; and the purifiers wanted to replace everything with pure Turkish, using only
words that derived from Central Asian roots.9
Ataturk further saw reform as a way of creating a purely Turkish language, in keeping
with his nationalist agenda, to unite the people of Turkey. The biggest task was replacing
loanwords of Arabic and Persian origins with Turkish equivalents, as well as banning the use of
imported words in the press. The Turkish Language Association (TDK) was ultimately
successful in removing several hundred foreign words from the Turkish language.10 New words

http://lostislamichistory.com/how-ataturk-made-turkey-secular/
James, Marion. "Was the Turkish Language Reform a Success or a Catastrophe?"TODAY'S ZAMAN. N.p., 28 Feb.
2010. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.todayszaman.com/news-202858-was-the-turkish-language-reform-a-successor-a-catastrophe.html>.
9

10

Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success, Oxford University Press, 2002., p. 26

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were derived primarily from Turkic roots, but some were revived from Old Turkish that had not
been used for centuries.
Language reform was also a means of assimilating the Kurdish minority, which
comprised around 20% of the total population, into the Turkish majority. The Kurdish language
was banned in public, leading to the abolition of Kurdish schools, Kurdish city names, and
Kurdish titles. The Kurdish language survived through use in private settings, such as the home,
but many Kurdish children lost the language as they attended Turkish schools.11
One of the unintended consequences of language reform was the rift that formed between
younger Turks and the older generations. Generations born before the 1920s tended to use the
Arabic and Persian terms that decorated the Ottoman Turkish language, but the younger
generation favored the new, Turkish expressions. There was such a big difference between the
two that they are often classified as different languages: Ottoman Turkish and Modern Turkish.12

Opposition to Secularization
Throughout the 20th century, Islamists continuously challenged the authoritarian secular
Turkish nationalism. One of Mustafa Kemals first moves, in 1922, was to abolish the sultanate,
allowing the caliphate to continue to exist as a symbolic figurehead with no official powers.
This was met with outrage by many Turkish people, so Kemal cleverly justified his secularizing
decision by claiming he was actually returning to a traditional Islamic form of government. Of
course, Kemal abolished the caliphate as well in 1924 to continue with his secularizing vision.
Some believed that the pace of change under Atatrk was too rapid as, in his quest to
11

Zeydanlolu, Welat (14 September 2012). Turkeys Kurdish Language Policy. International Journal of the
Sociology of Language (The University of Uppsala) 2012 (217): 99125.
12
Zeydanlolu,99125.

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modernize Turkey, he moved the country away from its traditions. Nevertheless, the majority of
the population accepted the reforms. The policy of state secularism met with opposition at the
time and it continues to generate a considerable degree of social and political tension.
Bloc Positions:
Religious Leaders
Religious leaders vehemently opposed secularization measures that upset their daily lives and
affected everything from how they dressed, worshiped, and were educated. For example, public
readings of Turkish translations of the Quran caused controversy in 1924 when the liturgical
language was changed and religious people felt they were not being allowed to worship how they
wanted to. Religious groups opposed laws that limited the freedom of Islam or forbade the
external display of religious symbols. These changes in devotional practices deeply disturbed
many Muslims and caused widespread resentment. Despite the best efforts of religious-minded
Turks (such as Said Nursi, who was persecuted by the secular state for having invested in
religious revival) to preserve their heritage, language, and religion, the governments pressure to
adopt secular ideas was too much.
Kurdish Leaders
The Kurds suffered under Kemals secularizing reforms. The new government adopted
an exclusionary, ethnic-based conception of Turkish citizenship and denied the authenticity of
Kurdish claims to ethnic distinctness. The 1920 Provisional Constitution enshrined equal rights
for Turks and Kurds, but the 1923 formation of the Republic marked the beginning of reduced
civil rights for Kurds, whose public expressions and institutions of their Kurdish identity,
including Kurdish madrasas, newspapers, and religious organizations were shut down. Kurdish

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regions were placed under martial law and the use of Kurdish language, dress, folklore, and
names was prohibited.
Military Leaders:
In general, the Turkish military considered itself to be the protector of Ataturks vision for
the Republic and particularly supported secularization of the state. Therefore, any political
movement that attempts to harness religious sentiment at the expense of Turkish secularism is
likely to face the opposition of the armed forces.

Questions to Consider:
1. How did the Republics government change the constitution and legal system to become
secular?
2. Instead of secularization, why didnt the Turks continue the tradition of the millet system
as a way to incorporate multiple religions?
3. How might language reform have been executed differently in order to preserve access to
the rich Turkish past?
4. Was language reform necessary in order to become a successful modern nation?
5. In what ways did secularization improve and/or worsen the lives of women and
minorities like the Kurds?
6. Could there have been a compromise in education reforms to allow some degree of
religious education to continue under the state-centralized education system?
7. Why did the government abolish the sultanate and caliphate? How did this transform the
nation?
8. Does a state have to be completely secular to be a successful modern state?

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9. How might relationships with other nations have changed without secularization?

Recommended Sources:
v Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success, Oxford
University Press, 2002., p. 26
v "How Ataturk Made Turkey Secular | Lost Islamic History." Lost Islamic History. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://lostislamichistory.com/how-ataturk-made-turkeysecular/>.
v James, Marion. "Was the Turkish Language Reform a Success or a
Catastrophe?"TODAY'S ZAMAN. N.p., 28 Feb. 2010. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.todayszaman.com/news-202858-was-the-turkish-language-reform-asuccess-or-a-catastrophe.html>.
v Rafizadeh, Majid. "Turkey: The Struggle Between Secularism and "Moderate
Islamism""The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 June 2013. Web. 23 Jan.
2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/majid-rafizadeh/turkey-thestruggle_b_3400583.html>.
v Sansal, Burak. "Ataturks Reforms." All About Turkey. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.allaboutturkey.com/reform.htm>.
v "Turkey: Ataturk and the Secular State." Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World
Affairs. Georgetown University, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/turkey-ataturk-and-the-secular-state>.

Bibliography:
1. Arango, Tim, and Sebnem Arsu. "Secular Turkish Government Permits Religious
Symbol." The New York Times 1 Nov. 2013: n. pag. NYTimes.com. 31 Oct. 2013. Web.
26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/world/europe/secular-turkishgovernment-permits-religious-symbol.html?_r=1&>.
2. "Biography of Ataturk." Republic of Turkey: Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Government of Turkey, 2005. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN,31350/biography-of-ataturk.html>.
3. Carlson, Marie, Annika Rabo, and Fatma Gk. Education in Multicultural Societies:
Turkish and Swedish Perspectives. Stockholm: Svenska Forskningsinstitutet I Istanbul,

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2007. Google Books. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.

<http://books.google.com/books?id=0rOMfwBPHYwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage
&q&f=false>.
4. Daver, Blent. Secularism in Turkey. Ankara, Turkey: Ankara University, Department of
Political Sciences, n.d. PDF.
5. Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success, Oxford
University Press, 2002., p. 26
6. "How Ataturk Made Turkey Secular | Lost Islamic History." Lost Islamic History. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://lostislamichistory.com/how-ataturk-made-turkeysecular/>.
7. "Islam and the Ottoman Empire." Lost Islamic History. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://lostislamichistory.com/islam-and-the-ottoman-empire/>.
8. James, Marion. "Was the Turkish Language Reform a Success or a
Catastrophe?"TODAY'S ZAMAN. N.p., 28 Feb. 2010. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.todayszaman.com/news-202858-was-the-turkish-language-reform-asuccess-or-a-catastrophe.html>.
9. Landau, Jacob M. Atatrk and the Modernization of Turkey. Boulder, CO: Westview
U.a., 1984. Google Books. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://books.google.com/books?id=8_n93Kq5PwMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage
&q&f=false>.
10. "Mustafa Kemal ATATRK." Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Government of Turkey, 2011. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.mfa.gov.tr/mustafakemal-ataturk.en.mfa>.
11. "Mustafa Kemal Ataturk." Trkiye On The Web: A Cultural Warehouse. Columbia
University, 12 Jan. 1994. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.columbia.edu/~sss31/Turkiye/ata/hayati.html>.
12. "Ottoman Empire (1301-1922)." BBC News. N.p., 9 Apr. 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml>.
13. Rafizadeh, Majid. "Turkey: The Struggle Between Secularism and "Moderate
Islamism""The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 June 2013. Web. 23 Jan.
2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/majid-rafizadeh/turkey-thestruggle_b_3400583.html>.
14. Sansal, Burak. "Ataturks Reforms." All About Turkey. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.allaboutturkey.com/reform.htm>.

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15. "The Nature of Ottoman Rule." GoGreece.com. N.p., 2004. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.gogreece.com/learn/history/nature_of_ottoman_rule.html>.
16. "Turkey: Ataturk and the Secular State." Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World
Affairs. Georgetown University, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
<http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/turkey-ataturk-and-the-secular-state>.
17. Zeydanlolu, Welat (14 September 2012). Turkeys Kurdish Language
Policy. International Journal of the Sociology of Language (The University of
Uppsala) 2012 (217): 99125.

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