Speaker Hicret K. Toprak
This study examines the early Republican period in Turkey in terms of the relations between religion, state and society.
It investigates the function of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, which was established by the founding cadre of the Republic between 1924 and 1945, and highlights the institution's practices of harmonizing Islam with the new regime. The first and main task of the Directorate of Religious Affairs was to convince and control the conservative masses in this period when the reforms of the Republic were tried to be accepted by the society. The second task was to organize the tiresome issue of what status should be assigned to Islam within the framework of the reforms within an institutional framework.
The study traces the formation and development of official religious discourse in Turkey, religious institutionalization and the establishment of the Presidency of Religious Affairs.
