Business & Education

Politics of Family and Expansion of Religious Sphere in Turkey

Sevgi Adak Live At Habib University

Public talk at Habib University: Politics of Family and Expansion of religious sphere in Turkey

Turkey has been the numero uno tourist destination for Pakistanis, especially in the most recent couple of years. The country that is at the crossroads of the Arab world and the European nations has an extremely rich and powerful history of art and culture, religion and politics.

religious sphere in Turkey | Public Talk in Habib University

Founded by Mustafa Kemal and superseding the longest reigning Muslim Empire, the Ottomans, Turkey saw in its first few decades, a radical shift towards ideals of secularism and liberal development. But recently, albeit with stronger diplomatic ties with Pakistan than ever, the political situation in Turkey is taking a historic turn yet again. With a new wave of “Islamization”, is Turkey heading towards a more “Muslim country” status? And if that is the case, how will this change manifest itself in domestic and day-to-day lives of Turkish population?

Picture of Turkish coastal city, with a mosque, colorful buildings, ships and cruise

And if you are thinking that these questions are only relevant to politics of Turkey, think again. It has been a general trend in global politics in the recent years that countries are shifting towards a more conservative bend. Pakistan, in a close diplomatic proximity with Turkey, is in a unique position too, in terms of influence and cross-cultural development between the two countries.

Habib University’s Interdisciplinary Development Research and Action Center (IDRAC) arranged a public talk, where academic research would be presented, to discuss these crucial questions this Friday on 25th October, 2019 at 5 pm inside the Habib University campus.

So, this talk analyzed the expansion of the religious sphere in Turkey in the last two decades and focused on the main institutional engine behind this process, the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). By discussing the female preachers employed by the Diyanet to reach more women through religious practices and the Family Guidance Bureaus established to strengthen the family through religious guidance, the discussion looked at the ways in which these mechanisms expanded Diyanet’s institutional capacity to penetrate into the private sphere and to reshape family relations along religious lines.

The talk opened to an auditorium full of enthusiastic academics and a very charged and fruitful discussion followed. Audience members, mostly university students but also including middle and old-age populations, were offered opportunities to interject and ask questions from the guests and the moderator. The main guest, Sevgi Adak commented that she was delighted by the response and level of knowledge as manifested by the attendees.

Woman, Sevgi Adak, in blue shirt, looking sideways

About the speaker

Sevgi Adak

Sevgi Adak is an Assistant Professor at Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London. She received her PhD from Leiden University, School of Middle Eastern Studies in 2015. Prior to joining AKU-ISMC, she was a research fellow at the International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam, and taught at Istanbul Bahcesehir University, Department of Sociology. Her book, Anti-Veiling Campaigns in Turkey: Gender, Power and Resistance under the Kemalist Regime, will be published by IB Tauris. 

Academics, students or any other Karachiite who has an interest in politics, history, art or even natural sciences, Habib University frequently organizes  very exciting public events like this one and you should put them in your bookmarks to not miss them!

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