Turkey occupies a unique place among the modern nation-states not only because of its geopolitical area but also because of its cultural and religious heritage. Turkey's unique position is strengthened by the fact that it lies at the crossroads of the diverse cultural and religious traditions of the East and West. The political and cultural identity of modern Turkey emerged under the influence of domestic and external forces and traditions that existed in and around Turkey throughout the centuries. These multiple traditions played a major role in the construction of the political and cultural identity of Turkish society.
Modern Turkey was established from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and inherited an imperial legacy that launched modern reforms during the eighteenth century in political, legal, administrative, educational, and cultural fields. The founders of the republic of Turkey adopted these reforms and accelerated the modernization process in Turkish society. The establishment of a modern nation-state in Turkey crystallized the ideological orientation of the republican elite aimed at reshaping the state and its institutions on the basis of a secular model inspired by the West. Political, social, and religious developments in modern Turkey were influenced by the ideals of modernism and secularism. Although some of the radical reforms and restrictive policies of the early republican period caused a cultural rupture, the fabric of the society preserved the resources and cultural references that make up Turkey's unique identity.
Nevertheless, despite sweeping reforms leading to the modernization and secularization of Turkey, Islamic values remained deeply rooted in Turkish society. However Islam is not a monolithic religion in Turkey. Although the majority of the Muslim population belong to the Sunni interpretation of Islam, current perception and practice of Islam varies from mystical to folk Islam and from conservative to more moderate Islam because Turkish society was exposed to various cultural currents throughout the centuries. Additionally, Islamic moral values are vigorously upheld within the patriarchal structures of traditional Turkish families.
Secularization and westernization could not perform the metaphysical function of a religion. Private religious education, the development of Islamic fashion and dress, the production of religious music, and the publication of Islamic journals as aspects of the privatization wave have given Islam a new boost and made it pervasive in modern Turkish society. Social changes such as migration from rural to urban settlement areas, rapid demographic change, multi-party politics, and economic and industrial developments have all affected the revival of Islam in Turkey.
Although Turkey has improved its democracy since its establishment, problems regarding state-religion relations still remain. Although secularism is defined as a separation of state and religion in Turkey, the state ideology not only permeates public institutions, but it also draws the boundaries of the public domain. Certainly Turkish democracy still requires improvement to become more inclusive and accommodating of religions and to find an appropriate balance between religion and secularism in a nation that is almost entirely Muslim. Nevertheless, Turkey is an exemplary nation that shows Islam and modern democracy can peacefully coexist. Now, Turkey is moving a step further to improve its democracy and to empower its citizens by introducing numerous reforms to join the European Union as a full member state.
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