Identity and religion among third generation Turkish youth living in Belgium

In this study, it is aimed to reveal the perceptions of religion and identity of the third generation Turkish youth who live in Belgium, which is a multicultural environment, who were born, raised and live here, who coexist with both Turkish culture and values and the Belgian cultural environment and who are a minority in this society. In this framework, a questionnaire and scale study was applied to a sample group of 427 people. The results of our study show that most of the young people have developed a multicultural/transnational identity that includes both Turkish culture and identity and the identity of the country of residence. In terms of religious identity, it is seen that the majority of them are Muslims, they preserve their religious belonging and beliefs to a significant extent, and although most elements of religion are preserved, the rate of living religion is lower compared to the dimension of religious belonging. In both the ethnic/national identity dimension and the religious identity dimension, it is seen that they have developed a transnational ethnic and religious identity form by preserving their own origin identity and taking some elements from the country of residence.