Religious Education In Modern Turkey In The Context Of Freedom Of Religion Or Belief

 

by Dr. Recep KAYMAKCAN

 

Recep Kaymakcan is Associate Professor of Religious Education, Faculty of Theology, Sakarya University, Adapazarı, TURKEY.
E-mail:recepk@sakarya.edu.tr or kaymakcan@yahoo.com

 

Printed in Teaching for Tolerance and Freedom of Religion or Belief. Report from the preparatory Seminar held in Oslo December 7-9, 2002 (prepared by Lena Larsen and Ingvill T. Plesner, published by the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief)

 

Introduction

The aim of the Oslo Coalition initiative is the development of a mutual commitment to international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief, from an educational point of view, particularly religious education. It is a fact that in any state, the educational policy and the underlying understanding of the pedagogy of religious education play a significant role in the construction of a more tolerant educational environment and behaviour. In this paper, I will briefly address the following issues pertaining to the question of freedom of religion in Turkey: A brief historical background and legal provisions of RE in Turkey, some main features of how religion and ethics are taught in schools, teaching of non-Islamic religions, and finally human rights education in schools.

 

A Brief Historical Background and Legal Provisions of Religious Education

As a successor of the Ottoman Empire the nation state Turkish Republic came into existence in 1923. The Turkish revolution was more than a political event; it was also a social, cultural and economic revolution. With respect to religious education, many fluctuations in religious education in schools can be observed in modern Turkey. For a quarter of a century in the early republican era, the Turkish educational system worked on a strictly secular basis. All levels of religious education were officially almost banned for around two decades. After the Second World War, improving socio-economic relations with Western democracies and initiation of a multi-party system influenced the educational structure. In this context, religious education in schools emerged as an important issue. After a long debate on the political level, religious education in state schools was introduced not only in primary school (in 1949), but also in lower secondary schools (in 1956) and upper secondary schools (in 1967) on a voluntary basis. Optional religious education in schools continued up to 1982. Compulsory ethical  education was introduced in secondary schools in 1974.

 

After the 1980 military take-over, religious education became a compulsory part of the school curriculum and it was then included in the 1982 Turkish Constitution as the 24th article. The official name of religious education was changed to “Religious Culture and Ethics Knowledge”. In the following, I will examine the existence of compulsory religious education in public schools of an officially secular state, and its relation to freedom of religion or belief.

 

1. The existence of compulsory religious education in state school may appear unexpected in a country that is officially secular. In secular states such as France and the USA, as a result of the separation between state and religion there is no place for religious education in state schools. Although Turkey has been a secular state since 1937, the practice concerning this issue in Turkey is quite different from, and perhaps opposite to, both France and USA. In order to explain this difference we need to ask the question: Should religious groups only undertake such a provision, or should the state take responsibility too? Because of Turkish legal provisions (and in contrast with the examples of France and USA), the first option is automatically ruled out because the law prohibits religious groups from providing religious education in both school and society. Moreover, religious groups have not been recognised by Turkish law, and no organised religious institution, such as the Church, is outside state control. The Presidency of Religious Affairs, which is the only legal religious institution in Turkey, is controlled by the government and its head is an ordinary civil servant. In this circumstances only the second option remains and the state provides religious education in schools in response to the public demand on this issue.

 

2. The official name of compulsory religious education in Turkey is “Religious Culture and Ethics Knowledge.” The subject does not aim at conversion, nurturing pupils in a particular religion or denomination, or make the pupils more religious. Rather, its intention is to provide general knowledge, mainly of Islam and other world religions and ethical issues. It also aims at promoting religious understanding and tolerance. This means that the subject also includes citizenship issues.

 

3. Pupils who are the adherents of a non-Islamic religion, such as Christians or Jews, have the right to withdraw from the religious education. To exercise this right, the family of the pupil has to apply to the school administration. There is no alternative provision such as courses in ethics for those who take advantage of the right of withdrawql from religious education. Turkey cannot be considered a multi-faith society. An overwhelming majority of the Turkish population (98-99 %) is Muslim. The existence of a limited number of Christians and Jews is a reality. There are approximately 260.000 Christians and 50.000 Jews (according to Contemporary Religions, A World Guide 1992, 475). Christians and Jews contstitute the only religious minority in Turkey and they have their own community schools in accordance with the Lausanne Treaty. In 1999l, the total number of students who attended private minority schools is 4523 (source: www.meb.gov.tr). In other words, religious education in schools is compulsory for Muslim pupils.

 

4. The reasons for the compulsory religious education can be explained as follow:

i.                     The overwhelming majority of the population is Muslims.

ii.                   Compared with Western Europe, the level of religiosity in Turkey is very high. For instance, two thirds of Turkish citizens observe fasting during the month of Ramadan and 50% attend Friday prayer regularly.

iii.                  With the exception of some of the Alawi elite, there is no serious objection to the compulsory religious education in school.

 

Main Features of Turkish Religious Education

Firstly, as far as the content of the teaching of Islam is concerned, the Turkish religious education curriculum is only oriented at teaching faith, worship and ethics, thus ignoring the social and political dimensions of Islam. The reason for it is that such issues conflict with the Turkish understanding of secularism. In a country where secularism is a vital feature for education, as is the case in Turkey, the secular state may prefer the teaching of doctrinal and ritual aspects that do not interfere with secular government policies, instead of teaching Islam as a complete way of life.  For example, the teaching of Islam in schools gives no indication about the necessity of headscarf or the prohibition of interest in Islamic tradition.

 

Although the Turkish Religious Education system tries to present a non-denominational view of Islam, in reality it presents the Hanafi-Maturidi branch of orthodox Islam to which the huge majority of Turkish people belong. Hence, textbooks and curriculum exclude pluralistic aspects of Islamic tradition. For this reason, the curriculum does not provide any place for the Alawi understanding of Islam. Some Alawi groups criticize this for of Religious Education, demanding that Alawi Islam must also be included in curriculum and textbooks. However, meeting this demand would seem to bring many difficulties in Turkey, some of them stemming from the nature of the Turkish Religious Education system and others from the nature of Alawism:

 

  1. The system of Religious Education does not approve of a sectarian approach to the teaching of Islam which might make Religious Education a source of sectarian conflict. To support of national unity and counteract the destabilizing effects of modernization problems, the state has tried to conceal the fact of religious disagreement as far as possible. In Religious Educationk the policy has been to avoid all mention of controversial themes.
  2. Even if Alawism would be included in RE curriculum, the following question arises: how can Alawism be defined? Alawism cannot be considered a sect like Ash‘arism or Shiism which has written sources and a well-structured theology. Alewism is based mainly on oral culture. Hence, there are various Alawi groups in Turkey with mutually conflicting understandings. If Alawism is included, which understanding of Alawism should be put in the curriculum?

 

Nonetheless, an appropriate way should be found to present religious diversity. Although the sectarian problem must be taken into account, the denial of reality is neither a genuine solution nor a scholarly good method. At least, some general information about the main characteristic of Alawi belief and culture could be given in curriculum and textbooks for Religious Education.

 

Teaching of Non-Islamic Religions

The national Religious Education curriculum for secondary schools provides a certain place for teaching non-Islamic religions. In line with this, textbooks at this level include the presentation of Christianity, Judaism and other non-Islamic religions. In the curriculum, the reasons for introducing non-Islamic religions are explained in the following terms:

...During the preparation of the Religious Education curriculum the possibility of the existence of a small number of pupils who belong to Christianity, Judaism and other religions was taken into consideration. In line with this view, in order to support the national and general culture, and commensurate with the length assigned to each religion, knowledge has been provided about Islam, Judaism, Christianity and other religions respectively. This knowledge will undoubtedly extend the world of the pupils’ faith and culture and it will enable them to behave in a more tolerant and sensitive (sympathetic) way towards the followers of other religions (MEB 1992).

 

A recently updated curriculum for basic education also supports the teaching of non-Islamic religions in Religious Education. In the new curriculum, the purpose of teaching other religions is explained in the following: “By gaining basic knowledge and understanding of other religions, the pupils will develop more tolerant attitudes towards the followers of other religions” (MEB 2000).

 

Taking Christianity as an example, let us briefly examine how other religions are presented in the textbooks (cf. Recep Kaymakcan: “Christianity in Turkish Religious Education”, in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 1999:3, pp. 279-293).

 

First of all, a neo-confessional method guides the portrayal of Christianity in the textbooks. They mostly present Christianity according to the Islamic understanding of religion and its key concepts such as prophethood and scripture, rather than treating Christianity in its own terms. The dominant influence of the Qur’an and the traditional Islamic viewpoint about ahl al-kitab (people of the books) is obvious.

 

Secondly, in the limited space given to Christianity, plenty of controversial issues that distinguish Christianity from Islam have been included. If we take into consideration the policy of avoiding a presentation of Islam that might be controversial in religious, social or nationalistic terms, the different attitude towards the teaching of Christianity is somewhat surprising.

 

Thirdly, no attention has been given to presenting the contemporary and living dimensions of Christianity. Such questions as what it means to be a Christian in our time, how Christians’ faith influences their family, social life, so on, or the relevance of their faith to Christian pupils, are neglected. Instead, all efforts are directed towards explaining Christianity from a historical point of view.

 

However, positive developments can be observed in the recently revised lower secondary Religious Education curriculum and textbooks. For instance, Biblical passages are sometimes referred to when presenting ethical subjects. The upper secondary curriculum is under revision and the same kind of positive developments may be expected on that level.

 

Human Rights Education

Human rights have become one of the key concepts of today’s world. It is commonly accepted that human rights principles and standards will increasingly play a crucial role in the making of a global democratic society. To attain that end, an international consensus on the importance of human rights education has arisen. Correspondingly, the United Nations and other international organizations encourage member countries to establish a national plan of action to promote education in human rights.

 

Turkey was one of the first countries in Europe that established a “National Committee on the Decade for Human Rights Education” in 1998, followed by the formulation of a “National Action” in 1999. The most important step in human rights education was taken by the introduction of compulsory “Citizenship and Human Rights Education” courses in 7th and 8th grades of basic education, and optional courses in “Democracy and Human Rights” in high schools. It should be noted, however, that Religious Education in schools does not lay any stress on Human Rights issues.

 

In Turkey, Human Rights Education has many limitations and is faced with various obstacles. The recent textbooks on Human Rights Education in Turkey are mainly concerned with the transmission of basic concepts, covenants and agreements regarding human rights, as well as legal documents and practical means of applying the main principles of human rights in Turkish context. Some textbooks authors do not pay enough attention to human right themes in a wider sense. Many authors reveal a duty-oriented understanding of citizenship, rather than one oriented towards rights. The textbooks are also poor in terms of providing adequate materials such as activity-based scenarios that require conflict resolution. In the Turkish context, Human Rights Education limits itself mainly to the cognitive domain, applying rather traditional teaching methods. In order to provide an effective Human Rights Education, new and more appropriate teaching methods such as teamwork, role-playing, and activity-based scenarios should be applied – with the aim of promoting inquiry and action.