Religious politics of the parties in the TBMM (1951-1954)

In this study, the religious politics during the Second Menderes Government Period between 1951-1954, which constitutes the brightest period of the "religious Menderes", which maintains its currency in the heart of the Turkish nation, has been examined by presenting it as it is. During the preparation of the thesis, about the religious policies of the government and the opposition; archive records, Parliamentary Minutes, news published in the press of the period, memories, as well as research works studied on the subject examined were used. Since the center of gravity of the subject is "Religious Politics", the approaches to religion of different segments in Türkiye were determined in the period examined. In this direction, it has been seen that the practices related to religion in Türkiye before the Menderes governments were referred to as "reactionary" under the name of "laicism". It has been determined that the dominance of people with a secularist and Kemalist structure in all units of the state and in the press and publications in Türkiye before the Menderes government continued throughout the Menderes governments. Therefore, it has been seen that citizens who want to live their religious life freely continue to live with the treatment they were subjected to before the Menderes government. However, it has been determined that Menderes's hopeful words and actions about freedom of religion, especially after they came to power, created excitement both among the public and in the conservative press. Although it used secularism in his discourses until the Democratic Party came to power after its establishment in 1946, it was seen that he did not openly mention religious freedoms for fear of being closed down. After its establishment in 1946, the Democratic Party until it came to power; although it used laicism in his discourses, it was seen that he did not explicitly mention religious freedoms for fear of being closed down. Instead, it has been determined that concepts such as "freedom of conscience" and "human rights" are emphasized. After the transition to the multi-party system in Republican Türkiye, the Turkish people brought the Democrats to power with the first democratic elections in 1950. However, due to the fact that the founders of the Democratic Party are from the People's Party, it has been observed that the Democrats, especially under the leadership of Celal Bayar, maintain the impression that they will never compromise on secularism. It was observed that Menderes, on the other hand, did not continue his positive approach towards religious people and freedom of religion in the first months of his rule, especially after the Malatya Event. In fact, after the aforementioned event, it was seen that Menderes took actions to prove that he was most loyal to the republican reforms, Atatürk and secularism. In this process, it has been determined that those who want to live their religion freely among the people are treated as "reactionist" just like before. Despite all this, the people in the examined period; It has been observed that he did not turn to parties such as the Nation Party and the Islamic Democrat Party, which attach more importance to religious freedom. It has been determined that the reason for this is that the parties mentioned against the CHP are not strong and the people do not believe that they have the possibility of taking power. Therefore, past experiences have caused the people to continue their loyalty and support to the Democrats against the CHP.