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Turkey: Survey Shows Intolerance Against Non-Muslim Religious Freedom in Turkey

R.E.A.L. reports of multiple media reports on Dr. Ali Carkoglu‘s ISSP-sponsored survey studies of growing intolerance against non-Muslims public meetings or publications in Turkey

Compass reports: ” More than Half in Turkey Oppose Non-Muslim Religious Meetings”
— “Survey finds nearly 40 percent of population has negative view of Christians.”
— “More than half of the population of Muslim-majority Turkey opposes members of other religions holding meetings or publishing materials to explain their faith, according to a recently issued survey.”
— “Fully 59 percent of those surveyed said non-Muslims either ‘should not’ or ‘absolutely should not’ be allowed to hold open meetings where they can discuss their ideas. Fifty-four percent said non-Muslims either “should not” or “absolutely should not” be allowed to publish literature that describes their faith.
— “The survey also found that almost 40 percent of the population of Turkey said they had ‘very negative’ or ‘negative’ views of Christians. In the random survey, 60 percent of those polled said there is one true religion; over 90 percent of the population of Turkey is Sunni Muslim.”
— “Ali Carkoglu, one of two professors at Sabanci University who conducted the study, said no non-Muslim religious gathering in Turkey is completely ‘risk free.’ ”
— “The report, issued last month, was part of a study commissioned by the International Social Survey Program, a 45-nation academic group that conducts polls and research about social and political issues. The survey quantified how religious the population is in each of its 43-member countries.”
— “Carkoglu, along with Professor Ersin Kalaycioglu, carried out the research in 2008. The completed study with the results of all 43 countries will be released in 2010. The study has been conducted previously three times at roughly 10-year intervals.”
— “This year marked the first time study data has been collected in Turkey. Turkey was the only Muslim-majority population in the study.
— “The survey includes significant nuance. While 42 percent of the population agreed with the statement that religious people should be tolerant, 49 percent of those surveyed said they would either ‘absolutely’ or ‘most likely’ not support a political party that accepted people from another religion. But 20 percent of those surveyed said they had ‘very positive’ or ‘positive’ views of Christians – 13 percent ‘very positive,’ and 7 percent ‘positive.'”

“New Poll On Religion in Turkey”
—- “Updating his 1999 social survey of Turkey, Sabanci University political scientist Ali Carkoglu along with Ersin Kalaycioglu reported new research findings on religiosity in Turkey under the framework of the International Social Survey Program, or ISSP, which measures religious values from 43 different countries.”

Hurriyet Daily News: ‘Religion loves tolerance, but is not tolerant’

2006 TESEV report — English version of the 2006 report by Carkoglu and Binnaz Toprak, “Religion, Society and Politics in Changing Turkey”

Hurriyet Editorial: “Professor Carkoglu’s conclusion was a rather sad one. While they agree in principle with the notion of respect to other religions, these people in practice cannot have any tolerance for the ‘members of the other religions’ to express themselves or to publish books.”

International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Web SiteISSP Instanbul Policy Center (IPC) – Ali Carkoglubackground
The Rising Tide of Conservatism in Turkey – by Ali Carkoglu and Ersin Kalaycioglu
Amazon review

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