Wandering Istanbul: Islam and Secularism, and even more Atatürk

Dear reader,

Turkey is a Muslim majority country. At the very least, over 90% of the country is Muslim. Of those, the vast majority follow Sunni Islam and most of the rest are Alevi Muslims. I see mosques about as frequently as churches back at home. Meanwhile, I have not heard any church bells here, but the Islamic call to prayer is sounded five times daily over loudspeakers.

I bring up Islam for several reasons. For one, I know a lot of those reading this are curious as to what life is like in a Muslim majority country. Naturally, I can’t answer that question as a practicing Turkish Muslim, but I’ll try to give as good of insight as a foreigner with limited contact with Islam can have.

The lines are always this long in the evening during Ramadan.

There are many obvious differences. As already alluded to, the landscape looks very different from anywhere else I have been to, if only for the presence of mosques. I have not had pork once, let alone seen it on any menu. I see women wearing all different kinds of Hijab (see photos below) and the Koran on bookshelves. With Ramadan having begun only days ago, it is more conspicuous that ever, as many here observe it by fasting during daylight hours and crowd. Although most cafes and restaurants remain in service throughout the day, many are unusually empty. Several close their windows, as to not distract those that are fasting. But they hardly lose any business, for famished patrons crowd outside, patiently waiting for dusk and repast.

Yet, I have yet to consciously interact with Islam. I have visited a handful of mosques by now, but I haven’t compared beliefs with anybody here and I still know only a little about the religion. Although Islam has always been fascinating, my curiosity has not been raised to this high of a level yet. I’ll probably look into it more after I finish summer school.

Islam is especially complicated in Turkey. Its presence cannot be denied. Yet, because Istanbul is especially secularized, it can be difficult to see how Islam manifests itself. Although these values are hardly espoused by everybody, there is a very strong secularist tradition in modern Turkey. In politics, this is evidenced by the strong views people tend to have on the subject. Until recently, the state tended towards hostility against Islamic expression in public. Mind you, this is not the secularism most of you are familiar with. In the United States, belief in secularism and religion coexist because American secularism is more concerned with the state's power over religion, not the other way around.

Without having familiarity with the issue, it's an enormous paradox: The vast majority of the country, including the state, follows Islam. Public expressions of Islam occur all the time. For example, Ramadan feasts and the prayer calls. Also, wearing the hijab in school is technically illegal, but nobody bothers to enforce the law anymore. The state controls religion, but ironically does so under assumptions characteristic of Sunni Islam.

The apparent contradictions do not end there. There are a few that are hardly religious but zealously adhere to the secular values espoused by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the republic and modern-day Turkey. In one word, he embodied arête, but since none of you probably knows what means... His significance to modern Turkey cannot be denied; among other accomplishments, he revitalized much of the country and saved it from imperial domination. Yet, as I am learning in class, many of his other actions had terrible consequences that linger to this day.

His legacy and near legendary status in Turkey is an important feature of not only politics, but society at large. There even is a mythos of Atatürk that is not unlike those of prophets of long ago; superhuman saviors that deliver their nation from tyranny at its most critical moment. Many shops and cafes display small portraits of Atatürk on their walls, and monuments to him are commonplace in Istanbul. It is also illegal to say anything bad of Atatürk in Turkey, which might explain in part why we scrutinize Kemalist values in class, not Atatürk himself. Even in that space, where I think is safe to be outspoken, I find myself being a little hesitant to criticize him directly. Nevertheless, many people, even foreigners, fall in love with Atatürk.

That there is the boy that chopped
down the cherry tree!

Although this devotion to Atatürk might seem excessive to many, reverence to foundational figures is extremely commonplace. Most countries even have myths surrounding their founding fathers. The United States is far from being an exception. Much of the time, these myths can blur the distinction between religion and politics. Alternatively, they can also reveal the lack of division between the two. If that seems like a contradiction, I assure you that all contradictions are only constructs for our own uncertainty. I personally look forward to deconstructing as many as I can.