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Social Compass
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Islam and the Turkish Cypriots

Birol Yesilada

The Hatfield School of Government, 650 Urban Center Building, Portland, Oregon 97207-0751, United States, byesilada{at}verizon.net

Turkish Cypriots represent some of the most secular Muslims in the world. While they consider themselves as part of the Hanefi school of Sunni Islam and hold strong belief in God, most do not follow a lifestyle that reflects the characteristics of their ethnic compatriots in Turkey. Turkish Cypriots do not seem to be influenced by organized religion, rarely attend mosques, and adhere to a very strict form of secularism (laiklik). The author provides a brief overview of Turkish Cypriots' background and examines their religious values based on the results of the 2006 World Values Survey conducted in Cyprus. The findings show that while almost all of the Turkish Cypriots believe in importance of God in their lives and consider themselves as moderately religious individuals, very few attend regular mosque service. Furthermore, the majority do not believe that religious institutions provide answers to problems individuals face in their personal or societal realms. This rather complex attitude towards religion among Turkish Cypriots raises important questions concerning their cultural background that seem clearly to set them apart from most Turks elsewhere and support the argument that a sizable number of the Turkish Cypriot community are either descendents of Alevi settlers from Anatolia or Bektasi Janissaries, who held religious values that are different from those of their Sunni Ottoman relatives.

Key Words: Key words: Islam • Religion • Turkish Cypriot

Social Compass, Vol. 56, No. 1, 49-59 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0037768608100341
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