How a secular constitution coexists with a largely Muslim society: the state's religious institutions, the main faith communities, and what visitors should know about mosques and Ramadan.
Last reviewed on 27 September 2026.
Most people in Türkiye are Muslim by background, yet the Republic has been constitutionally secular since the 1930s. That combination shapes a great deal: the state employs the country's imams, the call to prayer sounds five times a day in every town, and at the same time religious law has no place in the legal system. Religious practice ranges widely, from the devout to the entirely non-observant, and the relationship between religion and public life has been one of the central questions of Turkish politics for a century. This page describes the institutions and communities as neutrally as possible and gives practical guidance for visitors.
The Turkish term is laiklik, from the French laïcité, and Article 2 of the constitution lists it among the defining characteristics of the Republic. It was built in the 1920s and 1930s as part of Atatürk's reforms: the caliphate was abolished in 1924, the religious courts and the office of Şeyhülislam were dissolved, Sufi lodges and shrines were closed in 1925, Islamic law was replaced by a civil code based on the Swiss model in 1926, and the clause declaring Islam the state religion was removed in 1928. Laiklik was written into the constitution in 1937.
Turkish secularism differs from the Anglo-American model of a state that stands apart from religion. It is closer to state oversight of religion: rather than leaving Islam to independent clergy, the Republic created its own body to run it. Over the decades the balance has shifted repeatedly — the call to prayer was recited in Turkish rather than Arabic from 1932 until 1950; headscarves were restricted in universities and the public sector for long periods and those restrictions were lifted in the early 2010s; religious imam hatip schools have expanded. How far these changes represent a healthy relaxation or an erosion of secularism is argued over in Turkish politics, and the answer depends on whom you ask. Compulsory "religious culture and ethics" lessons in schools have also been the subject of legal challenges, including by Alevi families. For the constitutional background, see government and politics.
The Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, usually just "the Diyanet") was founded in 1924, the same year the caliphate was abolished. It administers the country's mosques, appoints and pays imams and muezzins as civil servants, runs Qur'an courses, publishes religious literature and issues rulings on religious questions. The Friday sermon (hutbe) delivered in most mosques is drafted centrally, so a congregation in Edirne and one in Van usually hear substantially the same text. The Diyanet also organises the Hajj pilgrimage for Turkish citizens and runs mosques serving Turkish communities abroad.
Its religious orientation is Sunni Islam, which is one reason its role is contested by Alevis and by secularists, and its budget and influence have grown considerably in recent decades. It has no authority over non-Muslim communities, whose affairs are handled through their own foundations and the state's general institutions.
Most Turkish Muslims are Sunni and follow the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which was the official school of the Ottoman state. Many Kurds, particularly in the east and southeast, follow the Shafi'i school. The differences show up in details of ritual and law rather than basic belief. Popular religion also includes practices with Sufi roots — visits to the tombs of saints (türbe), prayers on the holy nights called kandil — and Sufi orders, though formally banned since 1925, continue to exist informally and some have large followings. The Mevlevi tradition of Rumi, now presented largely as culture, is described on the Konya page.
The Alevis are the country's largest religious minority within Islam, though estimates of their number vary greatly and some Alevis do not describe themselves as Muslim at all. Alevism combines veneration of Ali and the family of the Prophet with Anatolian Sufi traditions, especially that of Hacı Bektaş Veli, whose shrine town in Nevşehir province is a major centre. It is distinct from the Alawites of Syria, despite the similar name.
Alevis generally do not worship in mosques or keep the Ramadan fast in the Sunni way. Their communal ritual is the cem, held in a cemevi (plural cemevleri), led by a spiritual guide called a dede, with music on the bağlama and the ritual turning dance, the semah, which UNESCO lists as intangible cultural heritage. Men and women worship together. Many Alevis mourn during the month of Muharram, commemorating the death of Hüseyin at Karbala.
The status of cemevleri is a long-running grievance. The state has not treated them as places of worship on the same footing as mosques, meaning they have not received the same public funding and utility support, and the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Türkiye over this in 2014. In 2022 the government set up a directorate for Alevi-Bektaşi culture and cemevi affairs under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Alevi organisations have been divided over whether this addresses their demands. Politically, Alevis have historically leaned towards secular parties.
Anatolia was one of the heartlands of early Christianity and home to large Greek, Armenian and Syriac Christian populations until the early 20th century. War, deportations and massacres during the First World War, the Greek–Turkish population exchange of 1923 and later emigration reduced these communities to a small fraction of their former size. The events of 1915 affecting Armenians remain the subject of profound disagreement between Türkiye and many other states and historians; the Ottoman Empire page and the timeline cover this period.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has its seat at the Church of St George in the Fener (Phanar) district of Istanbul and is regarded as first among equals by Orthodox churches worldwide. The local Greek community is now small. The Patriarchate's theological school on Heybeliada has been closed since 1971.
The largest Christian community today, concentrated in Istanbul, with its Patriarchate in Kumkapı, its own schools, churches, hospital and newspapers. The restored Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Akdamar Island in Lake Van holds an annual service.
Syriac Orthodox Christians have ancient roots in Tur Abdin around Midyat and Mardin, where monasteries such as Mor Gabriel and Deyrulzafaran still function. Many families emigrated; some have returned.
Mostly Sephardic, descended from Jews who arrived after the expulsion from Spain in 1492, and mainly in Istanbul, with a smaller community in İzmir. Led by a Chief Rabbi; synagogues include Neve Shalom in Galata.
There are also small Catholic and Protestant communities, many foreign residents among them, and communities such as the Assyrian and Chaldean Christians.
The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which established the international recognition of the Republic, protects "non-Muslim minorities" and guarantees them the right to their own religious, educational and charitable institutions. In practice Türkiye has long applied these protections to three communities: Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Jews. Other groups, notably Syriac Christians, argued that the treaty covered them too; courts have in recent years extended some rights, such as permission for Syriac-language schooling. Property confiscated from minority foundations over the decades was partly returned or compensated under legal reforms from 2008 onwards. Minority foundation elections, clergy training and property remain recurring issues.
Mosques in Türkiye are generally open to visitors outside prayer times, free of charge, and people are welcoming if you follow a few simple rules. The major tourist mosques, such as the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, have dedicated visitor entrances and may close to tourists around prayer times.
During Ramadan (Ramazan), observant Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, eating a pre-dawn meal (sahur) and breaking the fast at sunset (iftar). Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, Ramadan moves about eleven days earlier each year; check the dates in holidays and festivals.
For visitors the effect varies by place. In Istanbul, the coast and the resorts, restaurants and cafés stay open as usual and many people do not fast. In conservative towns in central and eastern Anatolia, some restaurants close in daytime or open only for iftar, and eating, drinking or smoking conspicuously in public is best avoided out of courtesy. In the late afternoon, bakeries sell the round flat Ramadan pide, traffic peaks as people rush home, and at the moment of iftar streets fall briefly quiet. In some neighbourhoods a drummer (davulcu) still walks the streets before dawn to wake people for sahur. Illuminated messages called mahya are strung between the minarets of Istanbul's imperial mosques, and municipalities often set up public iftar tables and evening fairs.
Ramadan ends with the three-day Ramazan Bayramı, also called Şeker Bayramı ("sugar festival"), when families visit elders and children collect sweets. The second religious festival, Kurban Bayramı, marks the sacrifice of Abraham. Both are public holidays: transport and hotels fill up and some businesses close.
Yes. Article 2 of the constitution defines the Republic as secular (laik), religious law has no place in the legal system, and there is no state religion. Turkish secularism involves state oversight of religion through the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) rather than strict separation.
Most of the population is Muslim by background, mainly Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school, with a large Alevi community. There is no census question on religion, so precise percentages come from surveys that vary widely. Christian and Jewish communities are small.
The Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, or Presidency of Religious Affairs, is the state body founded in 1924 that runs Türkiye's mosques. It employs imams as civil servants, drafts the Friday sermon, runs Qur'an courses and organises the Hajj.
Alevis are a large religious community in Türkiye whose faith combines devotion to Ali and the Prophet's family with Anatolian Sufi traditions such as that of Hacı Bektaş Veli. They worship in cemevleri rather than mosques, in ceremonies called cem in which men and women take part together.
Yes. Mosques are generally open to visitors free of charge outside prayer times. Cover shoulders and knees, women should cover their hair, take off your shoes, speak quietly and avoid the Friday midday prayer.
In Istanbul, the coast and tourist areas, restaurants stay open and eating in public is normal. In more conservative towns some restaurants close in daytime, and it is courteous to avoid eating, drinking or smoking conspicuously in the street.