Re-Educating Turkey: AKP Efforts to Promote Religious Values in Turkish Schools
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Following its dominant electoral victory on November 1, the AKP government is likely to continue it efforts to enhance t...
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A P P H O T O / L E F T E R I S P I T A R A K I S
Re-Educati Re -Educating ng Turkey Turkey AKP Efforts to Promote Religious Values Values in Turkish Schools By Alan Makovsky
December 2015
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Re-Educ Re -Educating ating Turkey Turkey AKP Efforts Effor ts to Promot Promotee Religious Values in Turkish Turkish Schools By Alan Makovsky
December 2015
Contents
1 Introduction and summary 2 Secularism vs. religious conservatism: A fulcrum of Turkish politics 5 Growth of Imam-Hatip schools 14 Religious electives in secular schools 20 Implications for the the United States States 21 Conclusion 23 Endnotes
Introduction and summary Alhough he issue o educaion played played litle role in urkey’s urkey’s recen recen parliamenary elecions, ew areas o urkish public lie generae more hea in public discourse han educaion. Ye, he mos inense conroversies regarding educaional policies are no abou issues such as suden achievemen or eacher-suden eacher-suden raios. Raher, like so many oher conroversies in urkey�paricularly urkey�paricularly over he pas wo decades�hey are ocused on he proper role o Islam in urkish sociey. sociey. For he ruling Jusice and Developmen Pary, known by is urkish acronym AKP, AKP, and is de aco leader, leader, urkish urkish Presiden Recep ayyip ayyip Erdoğan, increasing boh he reach o sae-sponsored sae-sponsored parochial schools and he religious conen o curricula in radiional sae secular schools is vial v ial o achieving Erdoğan’ Erdoğan’s 1 saed vision o raising a “dindar nesil,” nesil,” or pious generaion. Tis, in urn, serves Erdoğan’s larger goal o achieving a new urkey ha is less in une wih he radically secular values o Aaurk’s Aaurk’s republic and more consonan wih w ih he religious values o is Otoman predecessor predecessor sae. sae. Less grandly bu jus as imporanly, he AKP considers he expansion o parochial schools, known as Imam-Haips, as he righing o a hisorical wrong: he near-evisceraion o hose schools ollowing he miliary’s 1997 inervenion in domesic poliics. Te AKP also has a poliical moive or providing significan religious conen in urkish educaion: urks who are commited o Islam, or a leas appreciaive o is role in urkish sociey, are generally more likely o voe or he AKP. o urkish seculariss, hese AKP effors o increase he religious conen o educaion are par o a broader campaign o impose religious values on sociey wih he aims o eroding urkey’s urkey’s secular srucure, loosening is ies wih he Wes, and ulimaely hreaening hreaening secular liesyles, no o menion securing he he AKP’s poliical poliical dominance.
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Secularism vs. religious conservatism: A fulcrum f ulcrum of Turkish Turkish politics Conroversy over he religious conen o educaion is paricularly sharp among parisans o urkey’s urkey’s wo leading paries: par ies: he conservaive and religious AKP and he srongly secularis Republican People’s Pary, known by is urkish acronym CHP. CHP. In ac, disagreemens over educaional policy were reporedly among he he major impedimens ha conribued o he ailed negoiaions o esablish an AKP-CHP coaliion ollowing ollowing he parliamenary elecion in June 2015.2 Te AKP-majoriy governmen, which has ruled r uled urkey urkey since lae 2002, sharpsharp ened is ocus on recasing urkey’s urkey’s educaional policy during is hird erm, rom 2011 o 2015. During his period, he AKP was buoyed by a 49.8 percen voe in he 2011 parliamenary elecions and liberaed by he poliical sidelining o an uncompromisingly secularis miliary. Tis allowed he AKP o more assiduously implemen is vision o “raising a pious generaion.” 3 Te cenerpiece o his effor was he passage o wo major educaion bills in 2012 and 2014. Te firs vasly expanded he sae-sponsored Imam-Haip Imam-Haip religious school sysem, while he second sough o ensure he dominance o religiously conservaive pro-AKP p ro-AKP personnel over urkey’s urkey’s educaional bureaucracy. bureaucracy. Many seculariss viewed hese laws, and oher similarly pro-religious measures, as evidence o gradual Islamizaion o he urkish educaional sysem. For is par, he AKP says is religion-oriened educaional educaional reorms are inended o broaden democracy; o righ pas wrongs infliced on he religious communiy; and, unapologeically, unapologeically, o pursue he vision o a pious generaion. Wih he AKP having recapured a solid solid parliamenary majoriy in November November 1, 2015, elecions, Presiden Erdoğan’s and he AKP’s projec o expanding religious educaion and providing a more religious amosphere in schools will likely coninue. Bu even i he AKP had los he elecion, some o is religion-oriened educaional reorms�paricularly he expansion o he Imam-Haip Imam-Haip school sysem and he liberalizaion o dress codes o allow girls o cover heir heads�are now sufficienly rooed in he educaional landscape ha hey probably would no be rolled back even by a CHP governmen. governmen. 2 Center for American Progress Progress | Re-Educating Turkey
For he Unied Saes and he Wes, i is unclear wha significance, i any, an increased ocus on religious educaion in urkey could hold. A reflexive reacion migh be ha a urkey wih more emphasis on religious educaion will produce a more religiously conscious urkey, urkey, which, in urn, is a urkey more likely o ideniy wih is Middle Easern neighbors han wih w ih is long-ime Wesern Wesern allies�all o which are overwhelmingly over whelmingly Chrisian. Tis ransiion would imply a urkey urkey ha is less likely o ac as a reliable ally. ally.4 Bu ha could be alse reasoning: More religious educaion will no necessarily make urkey urkey a more religiously conscious naion. Even i i were o have ha effec, effec , urkey urkey could sill emerge as a srongly democraic counry, which, in urn, could srenghen urkey’s ideniy and commimen o is Wesern allies.5 Te Republic o urkey has been searching or he righ blend o religion and secularism almos since is birh. On he one hand, many o is ciizens are deeply religious; on he oher, i is inimaely ied o he Wes hrough economic and securiy relaions. Te lae scholar Samuel Huningon amously called urkey a “orn counry,” sharply divided div ided beween he secular and religious componens o ur her is populace.6 Te AKP governmen’s effor o swing he social pendulum urher oward he religious side han i has been in nearly a cenury�in par hrough educaional policies�may or may no have a proound effec on urkey’s urkey’s uure ideniy, sabiliy, sabiliy, and regional poliics. Te possibiliy ha i could have a powerul effec, however, bears waching. waching. Te purpose o his repor is o review ha effor�alhough i is oo early o render a judgmen as o is effec. Educaion is likely o remain a cenral batlefield in urkey’s urkey’s poliical sruggle beween hose who consider hemselves secular and wan wan Islam o be a sricly pri vae mater and hose hose who avor a prominen public role role or Islam. For For shorhand, his paper will w ill reer o his clash o worldviews as “secularis” versus “religious.”7 I should be kep in mind, however, ha some religious urks urks avor a minimal public role or religion and ha some secular, i.e., non-religious, urks urks are comorable wih a larger role or religion religion in public lie. Tis repor will wil l avoid use o he erm “Islamis” as applied o he AKP and is ollowers. Te reason is ha, as undersood in mos o he Islamic world, an Islamis is an advocae or governance according o sharia, or Islamic law. law. Alhough many urkish seculariss ear Erdoğan’s and he AKP’s long-erm inenion may indeed be a sharia-based sae, sae, he AKP has hus ar neiher advocaed advocaed or applicaion o sharia law nor made any effor o apply i. Nor has i, o his wrier’s knowledge,
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sough o promoe Islamism Islamism in he educaional sysem; he curriculum o he Imam-Haip Imam-Haip sae-sponsored parochial parochial schools, on which much o his repor is ocused, does no promoe poliical Islam, religious radicalism, or sharia as a basis or sae law�even hough individual eachers reporedly have done so a imes.8 During his final erm as prime miniser, rom 2011 o 2015, Presiden Erdoğan Erdoğan pursued a our-pronged our-pronged approach o his “pious generaion” generaion” projec: firs, expanding he sae-sponsored sae-sponsored religious school sysem; second, broadening religious educaion in secular schools; hird, enrenching religiously conservaive pro-AKP personnel in schools and in he proessional educaion bureaucracy; and ourh, providing a more conservaive culural environmen or sudens. He has made headway in all our areas�paricularly in he firs.
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Growth of Imam-Hatip schools Te AKP’s mos significan educaional reorm has been he vas expansion o he Imam-Haip Imam-Haip religious school sysem. Enrollmen in Imam-Haips Imam-Haips increased nearly fifeen-old over he years o AKP governance, rom 65,000 o 932,000; he percenage o middle-school sudens in Imam-Haips increased rom zero o 10.5 percen; and he percenage o high-school sudens in Imam-Haips increased rom 2.6 percen o 12.9 percen. p ercen. Tose figures are likely li kely o increase urher. ur her. (see (see able able 1) Officially classified as vocaional schools due o heir original mission o raining religious officials, 9 Imam-Haip Imam-Haip schools uncion in much he same way as parochial schools do in he Unied Saes, providing sudens wih an educaion ha blends secular and religious sudies.10 Sudens a hese generally gender-segregaed schools spend roughly one-quarer o one-hird o heir ime on religious subjecs, including he sudy o he Quran, he lie o Muhammad, and he Arabic language. Te remainder remainder o heir ime is spen sudying he same secular sub jecs�mah, lieraure, lieraure, hisory, hisory, and science�as heir peers in secular schools, schools, albei or ewer hours. Imam-haip Imam-haip schools are popular boh or he conservaive environmen ha hey offer and he religious curriculum, as well as or, some would argue, he superior educaion hey provide�even provide�even in secular subjecs.11 Te main and mos significan way ha Imam-Haip Imam-Haip schools differ rom U.S.-syle parochial schools is ha he ormer are unded by he sae raher han privaely. privaely. 12 Imam-haip schools each only Sunni Islam o he Hanafi school o law, hisorically he dominan religious legal school in urkey. Ye, he axes o all urkish ciizens�including hose o he esimaed 15 percen o 20 percen non-Sunni porion o he populaion13�suppor Imam-Haip Imam-Haip schools.14 Te mos noable o he AKP governmen’s educaional reorms�and he acion ha has done he mos o expand he Imam-Haip schools�was a law passed in March 2012, widely known as “4+4+4.”15 Te 4+4+4 legislaion made educaion educaion in 16 urkey mandaory hrough he 12h grade or he firs ime. Previously, urkish law required only eigh years o schooling and, prior o 1997, only five years. However, he expansion o mandaory schooling drew less atenion han he expansion o ImamHaips ha he bill enabled�and ha was almos cerainly he law’s law’s primary inen.17 5 Center for American Progress Progress | Re-Educating Turkey
In urkey, urkey, he ho-buton issue o religion in educaion is someimes oddly masked by he blandness o an arihmeical equaion. When W hen a miliary-influenced civilian governmen under Prime Miniser Mesu Yilmaz passed he eigh-year eigh-year schooling requiremen in 1997, he proposal was known as 5+3, meaning five years o primary school plus hree years o secondary secondary school, wih high school being opional.18 Wha i acually mean was ha eigh years o sricly secular schooling would be required, necessiaing he closing o he Imam-Haip Imam-Haip junior high schools, which hen served grades six hrough eigh.19 When he AKP governmen governmen el isel isel sufficien sufficienly ly independe independen n o miliary miliary conro conroll o reverse he earlier legislaion closing Imam-Haip junior high schools, is reorm was dubbed dubbed “4+4+4. “4+4+4.”20 Specifically, he ormula means our years each o primary, middle�now grades five hrough eigh�and high schools. An ousider migh look a he model primarily as an exension o mandaory schooling. For many urks, however, he prolonging o mandaory schooling was seen as a secondary aspec o 4+4+4; raher, hey see he 4+4+4 plan oremos as code or he re-opening o Imam-Haip Imam-Haip middle schools, he mos significan recen developmen in urkey’s ongoing ug-o-war beween secular and religious influences in educaion.21 As imporan as he subsance o he 4+4+4 reorm was�providing ready access access o more religious educaion or more urkish children�is symbolism was probably a leas as imporan as is subsance or he AKP and is supporers. Te closure o he Imam-Haip middle schools had been among he op prioriies o he miliary and is Aaurkis supporers when he ormer saged is so-called pos-modern coup o February 28, 1997, which sough o orce urkey’s urkey’s firs Islamis-oriened Islamis-oriened prime miniser, Necemetin Necemetin Erbakan, rom office. Te miliary and is supporers saw he growh o he Imam-Haip school sysem as boh sympom and cause o urkey’s urkey’s drif away rom Aaurk’s secular vision; hey viewed v iewed Erbakan, he leader o he AKP’ A KP’ss predecessor pary, he Reah, R eah, or Welare Pary, Pary, as a primary driver and beneficiary o his process. Among he 18 “February 28” demands, closure o Imam-Haip Imam-Haip junior high schools was he firs sep aken by he pos-February pos-February 28 civilian governmen ha he miliary miliar y helped o insall.22 By reversing his cenerpiece o he so-called February 28 process, he AKP governmen avenged Erbakan’s humiliaion23 and signaled decisively ha he AKP civilian governmen was now n ow running he show in urkey. urkey. In he wake o passage o 4+4+4, Presiden Erdoğan gloaed ha “[]ascis pressures have been correced hrough democracy,” underscoring ha he new law “showed once again who he rue owners o naional sovereigny are.”24
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By re-opening Imam-Haip middle schools, he AKP governmen vasly expanded he number o Imam-Haip schools and he sudens ha hey educae. Aside rom he 4+4+4 legislaion, a leas our oher acors have played a role in his expansion.
1. Revived mission for Imam-Hatip schools When he miliary-influenced miliar y-influenced civilian governmen closed Imam-H Imam-Haip aip junior high schools in 1997, i also insised ha uure admission o Imam-Haip Imam-Haip high schools be limied o hose sudens seeking seeking o join he clergy and ha he number o admissions be limied based on likely uure employabiliy as a religious official. Imam-Haip Imam-Haip schools were o be reaed reaed sricly as vocaional schools. Tus, he number o Imam-Haip Imam-Haip high school sudens was seadily rimmed over he nex nex five years, rom 193,000 in he 1998–1999 school year o 65,000 in 2002–2003 school year�a decrease o nearly 70 percen. (see able 1) Afer he AKP was eleced or he firs ime in November November 2002, i reversed ha policy, a leas inormally. 25 Imam-haip high schools once more began welcoming more sudens han could possibly enjoy uure employmen as clerics�meaning ha parens could once more enroll heir children in Imam-Haip Imam-Haip high schools simply because hey liked li ked wha Imam-Haips Imam-Haips offered: religious educaion in a conservaive environmen. Te Imam-Haip Imam-Haip high school populaion once again mushroomed rom 65,000 in he 2002–2003 school year, year, which began shorly shor ly beore he AKP came o power; o 85,000 in he 2003–2004 school school year, he firs ull school year afer he AKP came o power; and finally o 268,000 in he 2011– 2012 school year, he final school year beginning beore passage o 4+4+4 and he re-opening o Imam-Haip Imam-Haip middle schools. All old, he Imam-Haip high school populaion increased more han our-old over he firs nine years o AKP rule. r ule.
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