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Religion in Turkey consists of various religious beliefs. While Turkey is officially a secular state , numerous surveys all show that Islam is the country's most common religion . Published data on the proportion of people in Turkey who follow Islam vary.
Atatürk and his associates abolished certain religious practices and institutions and generally questioned the value of religion, preferring to place their trust in science. They regarded organized religion as an anachronism and contrasted it unfavorably with "civilization", which to them meant a rationalist , secular culture.
According to the Turkish government, 99% of the population is Muslim (predominantly Sunni). [7] The World Factbook lists 99.8 percent of Turkey's population as Muslim. [8] The government recognizes three minority religious communities: Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Apostolic Christians and Jews (although other non-Muslim communities exist). [7]
Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul.. The urban landscape of Istanbul is shaped by many communities. The most populous major religion is Islam.The first mosque in Istanbul was built in Kadıköy (ancient Chalcedon) on the Asian side of the city, which was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1353, a full century before the conquest of Constantinople across the Bosphorus, on the European side.
Turkey religion-related lists (1 C, 12 P) C. Christianity in Turkey (8 C, 4 P) E. Religious education in Turkey (2 C, 1 P) G. Gülen movement schools (5 P) H.
A small portion of the rural population practices animism or indigenous religious beliefs. There is a small Muslim community, unofficially estimated at 80,000 to 90,000, most of whom are migrants from West Africa or of Lebanese origin. Some Muslim sources put these figures closer to 500,000, but it is not possible to confirm the estimate.
Eastern Orthodox Christianity is today the religion of only a minority in Turkey. It was once the dominant religion, during the time of the Byzantine Empire, as the region that comprises Turkey today was a central part of the Byzantine heritage. Today, less than one tenth of one percent of the population are Orthodox Christians.
Minorities in Turkey form a substantial part of the country's population, representing an estimated 25 to 28 percent of the population. [2] Historically, in the Ottoman Empire, Islam was the official and dominant religion, with Muslims having more rights than non-Muslims, whose rights were restricted. [3]