Formation Process of the Turkish Religious Education and An Overview of Today’s Turkish Religious Education

Abstract

Considering the religious education formation process during the republican period, it is clear that the religious education approaches within the Turkish national education system shows differentiations in certain time periods. This is a direct process that can be associated with Turkey’s political and social process. It has to be stated that covering the Turkish religious education system, this study is focused on a religious education centered or Islamic religion. This is because autonomy has been granted to the religious freedom and religious organizations of non-Muslim population during the Republican Turkey as was in the Ottoman Period, which has been, in a sense, confirmed with the Lausanne Treaty signed on July 24, 1923. Today, freedom of belief and religious education rights of non-Muslims (Jews and Christians) living in Turkey continues in the same manner, with no change, as from the signing of Lausanne Treaty. Political and social experiences focusing on religious education during the early period of the Republic have affected this process almost never