An assessment of the seculari̇zati̇on debate i̇n the process of increasing religiousness i̇n Turkey

As a research topic for this MA thesis we have chosen the topic of `an assessment of the secularization debate in the process of growing religiosity in Turkey. There has been intense debate over the last two decades of increasing religiousness around the world. We have witnessed that these debates have taken place in our country since the mid-1990s. In this study, we want to find out the social structural changes, happened in the last two decades, in relation with the Enlightenment, modernization, secularization and laicity in which Turkish Republic took over from the Ottoman Empire. The implementation of neoliberal economic policies by the decisions of 24 January (1980) has resulted in wide results not only in the economic field but also in the social, political and cultural fields as well. Due to factors such as the increase in rural to urban migration, slum, rootlessness, and the failure of the modern institutions to fill the gap caused by the collapse of the traditional solidarity networks, the tendency towards religion has increased in both private and public spheres. The foremost aim of this thesis is to investigate the social visibility and effects of religion in our country, together with the application to religion / rise to the rising religion in the world. The qualitative research method was used as the research strategy which is most suitable for the structure of our research problem. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a total of 27 interviewers who were eligible for "descriptive research technique. Aydin was chosen as our main research cite. The interviews were terminated when the data obtained in the field started to repeat. Existing literature, scientific studies and various documents are also used in our analysis. The sociological reasons behind the process of increasing religiousness, conservatism and real nature of this debates have been discussed. At the same time, we have viii investigated the relationships between the increasing religiousness in Turkey and in the world. Also, the relationship between social change and increased piety experienced onsecularization debate in Turkey it was examined in the light of qualitative data. Our findings confirm our observations and assumptions at the beginning of our research to a great extent. According to that, it seems religious piety have been increasing in Turkey as well as all over the world, however, it does not seem possible to say the same about the content of this piety, whose 'visibility' has increased. In other words, the appropriateness of the apparently increasing religiosity to Islam is a matter of debate. KEY WORDS: Religion, Piety, Religious Identity, Secularism, Modernization, Conservatism, Secularization