NEWS
2025.12.17
【Report】The 84th AJI Frontier Seminar was held! Dr. Yoshitaka Suzuki, “Challenges for the Coexistence of Diversity in Contemporary Turkey: Focusing on the Conflict between State Islam and Religious Diversity”
The 84th AJI Frontier Seminar was held on Tuesday, December 9th. This time, Dr. Yoshitaka Suzuki (Associate Professor, Kinugasa Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University) gave a presentation titled “Challenges for the Coexistence of Diversity in Contemporary Turkey: Focusing on the Conflict between State Islam and Religious Diversity.”
Dr. Suzuki specializes in Turkish studies, with a focus on ethnic, religious, and immigrant/refugee issues from the perspective of multicultural coexistence. Turkey has faced the problem of identity recognition, including the Kurdish issue. He reported on the challenges Turkey faces in recognizing ethno-religious diversity, particularly in managing and supervising Islam. The presentation began with an explanation of Turkey's founding. Under the leadership of its founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey was founded as a modern Western nation-state with secularism as its national principle. Turkey’s goal was to minimize the influence of Islam on politics and society. To achieve this, Turkey established the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı). By controlling and supervising Islam, the Diyanet prevented Islam from gaining legitimacy in politics and society. However, Dr. Suzuki emphasized that these attempts led to the “separation of religion and state issue” and the “freedom of religion and conscience issue.”
Dr . Suzuki explained the Turkish government's claim that the Diyanet protects public order, morality, and the integrity of Islam in Turkish society. He then introduced the Alevi community, a religious minority group, and the Gülen movement, an Islamic revivalist movement that confronts the Diyanet. In each case, the legitimacy of their Islam was questioned by the Diyanet. Meanwhile, Dr. Suzuki also explained instances in which the Diyanet’s oversight of Islam was inadequate, and the Diyanet has been unable to prevent religious extremism and the involvement of Islam in politics.
Dr. Suzuki pointed out that the challenges of coexistence in Turkey require a comprehensive discussion, not only of religious issues, but also of matters such as the Kurdish question and the Syrian refugee crisis. In the Q&A session following his presentation, topics included trends in Turkish studies both within and outside Turkey, oversight of Islam, including in the internet sphere, and contentious issues surrounding religious schools and religious education subjects, leading to a lively exchange of views with participants.
Dr. Yoshitaka Suzuki delivering his presentation
Please visit the following link for previous AJI Frontier Seminars:
https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/aji/young_researcher/seminar/archive/