Adrien K. Wing, and Ozan O. Varol, Is Secularism Possible in a Majority-Muslim Country?: The Turkish Example. U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 08-17 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1130262
Part II provides an overview of the principle of secularism generally, and in Turkey specifically, and describes how Turkish secularism differs from the Western notion of secularism. Part III discusses the role of religion in the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor to the modern day Turkey, in order to provide a background for the legal developments that occurred after the Empire’s collapse. Part IV outlines the reforms that Turkish founding president Atatýrk and his supporters implemented following the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and demonstrates how a fundamentalist empire became a strictly secular government in less than twenty years. Part V provides a thorough examination of the various provisions of the Turkish Constitution that relate to secularism.
