Sanctifying the Nation Teaching Religion in Secular Turkey

In the debates on the issue of secularism and Islam the Turkish Republic is often mentioned as an example of how a Muslim society can be governed by secular principles. Secularism implies the separation of religion and state. A careful reading of textbooks used in universal religious education reveal that Turkish secularism does not only entail state control over the meaning of religion, but that religion is also used to promote nationalism, militarism, and the existing economic order