Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday pledged that Turkey’s draft constitution would guarantee secularism after calls for a religious charter sparked controversy in the predominantly Muslim country.
“Secularism will feature in the new constitution we draft as a principle that guarantees citizens’ freedom of religion and faith and that ensures the state is at an equal distance from all faith groups,” Davutoglu said in a televised speech.
He said Turkey’s secular and democratic character was “not up for debate” under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power since 2002.
Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Ismail Kahraman on Monday said the country “must have a religious constitution,” triggering fears that the AKP government was seeking to Islamize the traditionally secular country. The call led to protests on Tuesday in major cities where police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators in Ankara and Istanbul.
Kahraman’s comments also drew fire from opposition parties, prompting the speaker to release a statement saying he had been expressing his own opinion, not that of the AKP of which he is a member.
Opponents have voiced concerns over a rapid Islamization of society after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the presidency in August 2014 after more than a decade as prime minister, which saw a greater emphasis placed on religion in Turkish life.
Erdogan said during a visit to Zagreb on Tuesday that the state was at an equal distance between all religion groups and all beliefs.
Over the past few years, the AKP government has lifted a long-standing ban on women and girl wearing religious headscarf in schools and the civil service as part of a democratic reform package.
Davutoglu yesterday said that the new charter would refer to a “pro-freedoms secularism instead of an authoritarian one.”
“I am of the opinion that the discussion is over from our perspective,” he said.
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