Recently announced survey results by the Open Society Foundation show that Turkish society is more tolerant on religious issues than it was in 2006. The “Conservatism in Turkey: Family, Sexuality, Religion” survey exposes a movement toward mainstream politics at the right end of the ideological spectrum, despite an increasing level of pro-status quo feelings among the general public. The general level of religiosity has not changed, but people have become more tolerant.
As the survey states, Turkish people are more moderate in their behavior both toward themselves and toward others. It was also noted that the society should be more tolerant because of its redefinition of Islam as a tolerant religion, not a redefinition of religiosity as weakened religious devotion. It is not that society has found out the inborn toleration and moderation of Islam, but it is more liberal religiosity.
The author of the article does to blame the AK Party for the decline in religious energy that accompanied an Islamist party entering government, but the desire to overcome the crude is in itself problematic, which according to the author came together with the AK Party.
The survey shows that the clarity of religiosity in the public space is also normalized and more tolerated than in 2006. This is explained through the decreasing political relevance of religious garments and symbols. It was once again clarified that the change came not from the secular camp, but from the religious one, which became religious in a new sense.
