What is Religion in Turkey? Facts and background

Religion in Turkey consists of various religious beliefs. Turkey is officially a secular state and various surveys claim Islam as the country's most common religion. In the official records, 99.8% of the population is initially registered as Muslim, and the remaining 0.2% are Christians and adherents of other officially recognised religions such as Judaism. However, because the government registers everyone as Muslim at birth by default, the official statistics can be misleading. There are many people who follow other religions or do not adhere to any religion, yet they are officially classified as 'Muslim' in official records unless they make a contrary claim. These records can be changed or even blanked out on the request of the citizen using a valid electronic signature to sign the electronic application. Most surveys estimate the percentage to be around 94 to 98% of Turkey self-identified as Muslim.

Turkey was historically a religiously diverse country in the past. On the eve of World War I, the predecessor of today's Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, had 20% of the population as non-Muslims. The non-Muslim population significantly decreased following the late Ottoman genocides, population exchange between Greece and Turkey and emigration of Jews and Christians.

Turkey has officially been a secular country since its 1924 constitution was amended in 1928. This was later strengthened and entrenched with the wider appliance of laicism by President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk during the mid-1930s, as part of the Republican reforms. The rights of Armenian Apostolic, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish citizens were signed under the Treaty of Lausanne.

Although the Turkish state claims the freedom and security of all religious groups, religious minorities in Turkey have continued to face discrimination and persecution within society.

Beginning in the 1980s, the role of religion in the state has been a divisive issue, as influential religious factions challenged the complete secularization called for by Kemalism and the observance of Islamic practices experienced a substantial revival. After the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, strict regulations on religious insignia in the public sector, including a ban on Islamic attire, were imposed in 1982.

In the early 2000s, Islamic groups challenged the concept of a secular state with increasing vigour after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into power in 2002.

While the state is officially secular, all primary and secondary schools have been required to teach religious studies since 1982, and the curriculum focuses mainly on Sunni Islam. The extent to which other religions are covered depends on the school and students can be exempt from these classes on-demand. These policies have been met with controversy and criticism by both the foreign media and the Turkish public.

The high school curriculum, however, teaches religious studies through a philosophy course and incorporates more information about other religions. The country also has public Islamic schools called İmam Hatip schools, which came to prominence in the 1950s.

Organizations

The mainstream Hanafi school of Sunni Islam is largely organised by the state, through the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), which controls all mosques and pays the salaries of all Muslim clerics and scholars. Alevism is presided over by the 'Alevi-Bektashi Cultural Presidency' under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (Patrik) is the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Turkey. It also serves as the spiritual leader of all Orthodox churches worldwide. The Armenian Patriarch is the head of the Armenian Church in Turkey, while the Jewish community is led by the Hahambaşı, Turkey's Chief Rabbi, based in Istanbul.

Statistics

God exists (94.3%)
God doesn't exist (5.70%)

According to a 2025 report from Pew Research Center, 95% of Turkey self identified as Muslim. Most Muslims in Turkey are Sunni Muslims forming about 85–90%, and Shia-Aleviler (Alevis, Alawites, and Ja'faris) denominations in total form up to 10% of the Muslim population. Among Shia Muslim presence in Turkey there is a small but considerable minority of Muslims with Ismaili heritage and affiliation.

Christians (Oriental Orthodoxy, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic) and Jews (Sephardi), who comprise the non-Muslim religious population, make up about 0.2% of the total. The Alawites in Turkey are in extension of the Alawite community in Syria and are Arab they follow the Shia branch of Islam. In 2023, it was found that 94% of those who took part in the survey Identified as believing in God and 1.5% did not believe in god, 2.5% were not sure god exists and 1.7% did not believe in a personal god but believed in a higher power.

According to the same study 62% Identified with the Hanafi school of thought, 15.1% said they were Non-denominational Muslim, 9.6% refused to give an answer, 9% followed the Shafi'i school of thought, 3.1% Identified with the Alevism sect, 0.2% with the Hanbali school of thought, 0.2% with the Maliki school of thought, 0.2% with the Ja'fari school of thought and 0.6% said other.

According to a poll made by MAK (Mehmet Ali Kulat of Ankara), 86% of those who did the poll, declared they believe in God. 76% declared they believe Quran and other holy books came through revelation by God, while 14% said that they don't believe that it did, and 10% did not answer.

Another recent poll by OPTİMAR which interviewed 3,500 people in 26 cities, included a question about belief in God and found that 89.5% of the Turkish population believed in God, 4.5% believed in God but did not belong to an organized religion, 2.7% were agnostic, 1.7% were atheist, and 1.1% did not answer.

According to a survey by the pollster KONDA, the percentage of atheists in Turkey has tripled in 10 years and rose from 1% in 2008 to 3% in 2018, the percentage of non-believers or agnostics rose from 1% to 2%, and that 90% of irreligious Turks were under 35 years old. The survey was conducted in Turkey through face-to-face interviews with 5,793 people in their households, in April, 2018 while in 2008 6,482 people were interviewed in face-to-face in Turkey.

12,941 — 13,290 — 18,511 — 31,139 — 56,860 — 71,997
1,549 — 110 — 104 — 76 — 8 — 3
1,204 — 77 — 60 — 64 — 67 — 50
128 — 82 — 77 — 38 — 29 — 27
176 — 71 — 38 — 74 — 50 — 45
15,997 — 13,630 — 18,790 — 31,391 — 57,005 — 72,120
19.1 — 2.5 — 1.5 — 0.8 — 0.3 — 0.2

~85% of the population — No — Yes, by the Article 136 — Yes through the Presidency of Religious Affairs
~3% to ~15% — Yes — Only by local municipalities, not constutituonal — Yes through Ministry of Culture and Tourism
250,000-1,000,000 — Yes — No — No
500,000-760,000 — Yes — No — No
~90,000 — Yes — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No
~25,000 — Yes — No — No
~25,000 — Yes — No — No
14,300-15,000 — Yes — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No
~10,000 — Unclear — No — No
7,000–10,000 — Yes — Yes — Yes
7,000–9,000 — Yes — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No
5,600[citation needed] — Yes — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No
5,000 — Unclear — No — No
2,000-3,500 — Yes — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No
2,000-3,500 — Yes — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No
2,000 — Yes — No — No
500–3,000 — Yes — No — No
<1,000 — Unclear — No — No
573 — Yes — No — No
4-350 — No — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No
16 — Yes — Yes through the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) — No

Religiosity

Fully Devout (10%)
Fully Religious (50%)
Not Religious (33%)
Non-believers & Atheists (7%)

Mainstream Religious (40.2%)
Pious Muslim (30.6%)
Secular Muslim (22.2%)
Secular non-believer (6.00%)

In a poll conducted by Sabancı University in 2006, 98.3% of Turks revealed they were Muslim. Of that, 19% said they were "extremely religious", 45% said they were "somewhat religious", and 33% said they were "not very religious" and 3% had "no religious beliefs". 3% of Turks declare themselves with no religious beliefs.

According to Pew in 2020, 89% of Turks say religion plays an important role in their life (71% very important, 18% somewhat important), and 8% say religion does not play an important role in their lives (3% not at all important, 5% not too important), 75% of Turks also say it is necessary to believe in God to be moral, compare to 84% in 2002. A 2016 Pew Research Center Report, only 13% of all Turks believe laws should "strictly follow the teachings of the Qur'an."

According to a 2021 study by Kadir Has University, 12.5% of participants identified as 'non-religious', 58% as 'somewhat religious', and 29.5% as 'religious'. In terms of religious practice, 41.6% described themselves as 'non-practicing', 37.2% reported attending only Friday and/or holiday prayers, while 21.2% said they perform all daily prayers.

In 2023, the report Türkiye’de Dindarlık Algısı (“Perceptions of Religiousness in Turkey”), published by Sabancı Üniversitesi's Ankara Enstitüsü and Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) in November 2023, provides detailed findings on self-perceived religiosity in Turkey. Pages 37–39 present three major graphs, examining personal religiosity, religiosity by party preference, and religiosity across demographic groups.

Graph 22 (p. 37) asks respondents “How would you describe yourself in terms of religiousness?”. According to the results, in the general population, 21.9% of respondents describe themselves as very religious and 48.2% as religious, totaling 70.1%. A further 15.0% identify as neither religious nor non-religious.

Those who describe themselves as not religious account for 6.7%, while 6.0% say they are not religious at all. 2.3% of respondents state that they do not wish to answer. Graph 23 (p. 38) analyzes self-perceived religiosity by party preference. Among AK Parti voters, 39.4% describe themselves as very religious and 52.4% as religious (91.8% combined), while 6.2% did not respond.

For MHP voters, 20.7% identify as very religious and 58.5% as religious (79.2%), with 19.4% identifying as neither religious nor non-religious and 1.4% declining to answer. CHP voters show a markedly different profile: 12.3% report being very religious and 34.5% religious (46.8%), 21.2% describe themselves as neither religious nor non-religious, 14.4% as not religious, 15.0% as not religious at all, and 2.6% did not respond.

İYİ Party voters report 11.8% very religious and 56.3% religious (68.1%). 12.7% identify as neither, 9.2% as not religious, 3.6% as not religious at all, and 6.4% did not answer. Among HDP voters, 11.0% describe themselves as very religious and 35.3% as religious (46.3%). 11.9% identify as neither religious nor non-religious, 20.9% as not religious, 18.6% as not religious at all, and 2.3% did not respond.

Graph 24 (p. 39) presents religiosity across age. Among those aged 18–24, 16.9% identify as very religious and 45.3% as religious (62.2% combined). 22.6% describe themselves as neither religious nor non-religious, while 5.7% say they are not religious and 6.7% not religious at all; 2.7% did not respond.

In the 25–34 age group, 26.8% report being very religious and 43.5% religious (70.3% combined). 16.2% identify as neither, 6.5% as not religious, 4.8% as not religious at all, and 2.3% did not answer. Among respondents aged 35–44, 23.4% describe themselves as very religious and 51.1% as religious (74.5%). 16.0% identify as neither religious nor non-religious, 3.5% as not religious, 3.4% as not religious at all, and 2.5% gave no response.

For those aged 45–54, 19.1% identify as very religious and 56.1% as religious (75.2%). 11.5% describe themselves as neither, 6.5% as not religious, 4.6% as not religious at all, and 2.2% did not respond. In the 55–64 age group, 19.6% report being very religious and 48.3% religious (67.9%). 11.3% identify as neither religious nor non-religious, 5.4% as not religious, 11.6% as not religious at all, and 3.7% did not answer.

Among those aged 65 and over, 23.1% describe themselves as very religious and 43.8% as religious (66.9%). 11.2% identify as neither religious nor non-religious, while 21.9% describe themselves as not religious or not religious at all.

According to the Türkiye’de Dindarlık Algısı report in 2023

9.8% — "A religious person who fully performs the requirements of religion."
61.5% — "A religious person who tries to fulfill the requirements of religion."
18.3% — "A believer who does not fulfill religious requirements."
7.3% — "Not a believer."
3.0% — "No answer."

According to a poll made by OPTİMAR in 2019

89.5% — "I believe in God's existence and oneness." (Theist)
4.5% — "I think there is a Creator, but I am not religious." (Deist)
2.7% — "I'm not sure if there is a Creator." (agnostic)
1.7% — "I don't think there is a Creator." (Atheist)
1.7% — no answer

According to the Pew Research Center report 2015:

61% — religion is "very important" to their lives.
22% — religion is "somewhat important" to their lives.
7% — religion is "not too important" to their lives.
3% — religion is "not at all important" to their lives.

According to the Gallup Poll 2012:

23% — defined themselves as "a religious person".
73% — defined themselves as "not a religious person".
2% — defined themselves as "a convinced atheist".

According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2010:

94% — "I believe there is a God". (theist)
1% — "I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force". (spiritual)
1% — "I do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force". (neither theist nor spiritual)

According to the KONDA Research and Consultancy survey carried out throughout Turkey in 2007:

52.8% — defined themselves as "a religious person who strives to fulfill religious obligations" (Practicing religious).
34.3% — defined themselves as "a believer who does not fulfill religious obligations" (Religious in the name).
9.7% — defined themselves as "a fully devout person fulfilling all religious obligations" (Fully devout).
2.3% — defined themselves as "someone who does not believe in religious obligations" (Non-believer).
0.9% — defined themselves as "someone with no religious conviction" (Irreligious).

Islam

Islam is the religion with the largest community of followers in the country, where most of the population is Muslim, of whom around 90% belong to the Sunni branch of Islam, predominantly following the Hanafi fiqh. About 10% of the Muslim population belongs to the Shia sects. The Alevi faith, thought by most of its adherents to be a form of Shia Islam while a minority considers it to have different origins (such as Ishikism and Yazdanism).

It is mostly concentrated in the Central East Anatolia region. Tunceli is the only province of Turkey with an Alevi majority. Ethnic Kurds and Zazas make up a significant share of Alevi population of Turkey, although majority of them are ethnic Turks. The terms Alevi and Bektashi used interchangeably in Turkish religious discourse, the latter also has numerous followers in the Balkan peninsula.

Alawite, which is observed by some ethnic Arabs in southern provinces, and Jafari, which is the traditional sect of ethnic Azerbaijanis of the Northeast Anatolia region, are other sects that have significant population in Turkey. It is hard to estimate an exact number for religious minorities since Turkey does not conduct censuses about religious denominations. Although the Shia population of Turkey varies according to different sources from 4% to more than 10%.

Islam arrived in the region that comprises present-day Turkey, particularly the eastern provinces of the country, as early as the 7th century. The mainstream Hanafi school of Sunni Islam is largely organized by the state through the Presidency of Religious Affairs (known colloquially as Diyanet), which was established in 1924 following the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate and controls all mosques and Muslim clerics, and is officially the highest religious authority in the country. Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam is the dominant jurisprudence in Turkish Kurdistan.

As of today, there are thousands of historical mosques throughout the country which are still active. Notable mosques built in the Seljuk and Ottoman periods include the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, the Yeşil Mosque in Bursa, the Alâeddin Mosque and Mevlana Mosque in Konya, and the Great Mosque in Divriği, among many others.

Large mosques built in the Republic of Turkey period include the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara and the Sabancı Mosque in Adana.

Minority religions

The remainder of the population belongs to other faiths, particularly Christian denominations (Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant), and Judaism (mostly Sephardi Jews, and a smaller Ashkenazi community). There are between 120,000 and 320,000 Christians who belong to various Christian denominations, and fewer than 15,000 Jews in Turkey as of 2024.

Turkey has numerous important sites for Judaism and Christianity, being one of the birthplaces of the latter. Since the 4th century, Istanbul (Constantinople) has been the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (unofficially Fener Rum Ortodoks Patrikhanesi), which is one of the fourteen autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches, and the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox communion.

However, the Turkish government does not recognize the ecumenical status of Patriarch Bartholomew I. The Halki seminary remains closed since 1971 due to the Patriarchate's refusal to accept the supervision of the Turkish Ministry of Education on the school's educational curricula; whereas the Turkish government wants the school to operate as a branch of the Faculty of Theology at Istanbul University.

Other Eastern Orthodox denomination is the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate with strong influences from Turkish nationalist ideology.

Organizations

Statistics

Islam

Minority religions

Yudum