Türkiye’de Laiklik ve İnanç Özgürlüğü Bağlamında Çokkültürcülük Yaklaşımının Sınırları

Abstract

The process of modernization has unfolded two basic imaginations of society: heterogeneous and homogeneous. Such an imagination considering society brought about a political structure that today we call "nation state". During the process of the collapsing of empires and replaced by nation states, ignoring different ehno-cultural and religious groups and claiming in fact they were or should be one single unity prevailed. The imagery of a homogeneous society of nation states has led to the ignoring of their differences in public regulations and the violation of human rights as a result of their judicial system. Such an idea has revealed itself in Turkey during the nation state process in a radical manner. Beginning in 20th century this imagination of a homogeneous nation state started to be questioned in concept of "multiculturalism". As a result of this, main topics that have been discussed in Turkey have become secularism, freedom of religion and demands of participation of religious groups in public space. In this article, the suitability of the paradigm of multiculturalism that has emerged in Europe with the aim of conducting the diversity of European societies in terms of finding solutions to demands of religious groups in Turkey. Turkey's ideology of secularism and the secularization process will be studied in this context. In addition to that, the content and limitation of "multiculturalism" will be studied in context of the freedom of religion in Turkey.