The first Atheist Association in Turkey is founded

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The first Atheist Association in Turkey is founded a few weeks ago.

This is not only the first atheist organisation in Turkey, but also the first one in the large region of Middle East and Caucasus. And the first one in a country with a predominantly muslim population.

In a way, this is a historic event. History books in the future may mention this as a note.

As an internet activist for Turkish atheism, I have also been a part of this process and supported this initiative in any way I could.
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Atheism in Turkey

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Recent studies suggest that atheism is rising all around the world, therefore it is not surprising that there is a noticeable increase in the number of atheists and atheist activism in the muslim nations, especially the most moderate of them all, Turkey.

Atheism is a concept that has not been known or understood properly in the islamic world, including Turkey, until the recent times. And these recent times are so recent that it actually means the last decade or so, or the “internet age”.

Before the recent times, the term “atheist” or its Turkish equivalent “ateist” was just a foreign word. It was a western word that was poorly understood, that was typically used in connection with communism, and also was being confused with satanism or similar views. People didn’t really know what it meant, and they didn’t care. Of course they knew it had something to do with not believing in God (or ‘Allah’ in this case), but it was thought to mean someone who has no moral values, a sociopath, or a mentally or psychologically ill person.
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Atheists and free speech in Turkey

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There are a lot of atheists in Turkey. But they are mostly active on the internet. For a lot of atheist activists, it is still not advisable to carry out activities in the real world, with an openly atheist identity. A lot of atheist activism can be carried out as an evolutionist, or someone who supports humanism and/or secularism, etc but usually not as a plain atheist.

With an increasing pressure from the current islamist government, and no civil rights organizations to help them, Turkish atheists are imprisoned on the internet.

One of the biggest problems Turkish atheists have is the organized campaigns designed to pressure and silence them. Especially the constant pressure of lawsuits they face in the recent years that are usually filed by some islamist groups, the most active one being Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar)’s group.
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A group of evolutionists sued Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar) in Turkey

Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar) is the head of the largest creationist organization in Turkey, and perhaps in the whole Islamic world. His activities and influence is also felt internationally. He distributed tens of thousands of copies of his book, “The Atlas of Creation” to many prominent researchers and research institutes throughout the United States and Europe. He also carried out a campaign placing ads on the busses in London.

But his main influence is felt in the Islamic world, especially in Turkey. And it is not only his creationist propaganda that causes the problem, but he and his followers have also been running campaigns to intimidate and suppress evolutionists and evolutionism in Turkey.

In the recent years, he has been responsible for filing lawsuits that banned thousands of websites that had non-religious, evolutionist or atheist content in Turkey, including Richard Dawkins’ website, wordpress domain, google groups and many others.
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Book: “Ateizmi Anlamak” (Understanding Atheism)

Title: Ateizmi Anlamak (Understanding Atheism)

Author: Aydin Turk

Publisher: Propaganda Yayinlari

ISBN: 978-0-9879366-7-7

Language: Turkish

Length: 267 pages (e-book version), 327 pages (printed version)

Availability: Available as an e-book from iTunes, Smashwords, Sony, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Baker Taylor, etc. Printed version is also available at http://www.lulu.com/shop/ayd%C4%B1n-t%C3%BCrk/ateizmi-anlamak/paperback/product-20333365.html

Summary: This book is the first one of its kind. It is written by a Turkish author, who is an atheist with a muslim background, on the subject of atheism. It is written for the muslims, looking at atheism from their point of view, and answering their questions about atheism and explaining atheism to them. Read More »

FoRB (Freedom of Belief Initiative) Interview

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The following interview is originally published at: http://inancozgurlugugirisimi.com/2012/06/19/iog-turkey-freedom-of-belief-initiative-interview-with-atheist-forum-editor/

FoRB (Freedom of Belief Initiative)’s interview with me (Aydin Turk):

İÖG (Turkey) / Freedom of Belief Initiative Interview with Atheist Forum Editor on Freedom of Thought, Religion or Belief in Turkey, state-religion relations, new Constitution and Article 216 of the Turkish Criminal Code.

İÖG (Turkey) / FoRB Initiative): How many atheists/agnostics do you estimate are in Turkey?   Is there official data or research on which this estimate is based on? 

The general thought is that the percentage of atheists in Turkey is very low, approximately 1-3%.   But I am unaware of any concrete or reliable statistical work on this.  Most of the existing work applies to certain groups, such as university students etc.   Read More »