The transformation of the defense of secularism in Türkiye and CHP 1923-2002

This study examines the historical transformation of the defense and practice of secularism in Turkey, specifically concerning the Republican People's Party (CHP), during the period from its founding until the 2002 general elections. In this context, secularism is conceived not merely as an issue of individual freedoms or a matter of lifestyle, but as a component of social liberation and equality involving the overcoming of structural inequalities between social classes. Secularism, established as a founding principle of the Republic upon the legacy of secularization inherited from the Ottoman Empire, has never remained static in the policies of the CHP. Particularly after 1945, under Cold War conditions, the foregrounding of religious discourses against communism and the extension of politics to the mass base increased religion's influence in the political sphere. Over time, on this basis, political styles instrumentalizing religion and populist approaches were developed by various actors, primarily right-wing parties. The CHP, in response to these general transformations and particularly the intensified competition after the 1970s, renewed its foundational conception of secularism and adopted its own populist approaches. The study argues that the significant stages of this transformation in the CHP's secularism policy were revised in line with changing class relations, strategies for integration into international capitalism, and regimes of accumulation. In the study, this evolution in the CHP's understanding of secularism is discussed using a dialectical method based on class relations and historical materialism, critically filtering approaches in the literature such as center-periphery. In conclusion, the continuous ideological change experienced in the CHP's secularism policy, dependent on historical and material conditions, is underlined, and the party's shift towards a more moderate understanding of secularism over time is identified. These findings show that the CHP's position regarding secularism did not change suddenly with the AKP era; rather, it is the product of a dynamic process with much earlier roots, dependent on structural and conjunctural factors. Keywords: Republican People's Party (CHP), secularism, religion, republic, bourgeoisie.