Editing Freethought (section)

====Turkey====

[[File:Ateizm Derneği logo.png|thumb|upright=0.6|Logo of [[Ateizm Derneği|Atheism Association]] of Turkey]]
In the last years of the [[Ottoman Empire]], free thought made its voice heard by the works of distinguished people such as [[Ahmet Rıza]], [[Tevfik Fikret]], [[Abdullah Cevdet]], Kılıçzade Hakkı, and [[:tr:Celal Nuri İleri|Celal Nuri İleri]]. These intellectuals affected the [[One-party period of the Republic of Turkey|early period]] of the [[Turkey|Turkish Republic]]. [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]] –[[Mareşal (Turkey)|field marshal]], revolutionary statesman, author, and [[Father of the Nation|founder]] of the [[Secular state|secular]] Turkish [[nation state]], serving as its first [[President of Turkey|President]] from 1923 until his death in 1938– was the practitioner of their ideas. He made many [[Atatürk's Reforms|reforms]] that modernized the country. Sources point out that Atatürk was a [[religious skepticism|religious skeptic]] and a freethinker. He was a non-doctrinaire [[Deism|deist]]<ref>Reşat Kasaba, "Atatürk", ''The Cambridge history of Turkey: Volume 4: Turkey in the Modern World'', Cambridge University Press, 2008; {{ISBN|978-0-521-62096-3}} [{{Google books|plainurl=yes |id=iOoGH4GckQgC|page=163}} p. 163]; accessed 27 March 2015.</ref><ref>[{{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=kdXGAAAAQBAJ|page=84}} ''Political Islam in Turkey'' by Gareth Jenkins, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, p. 84]; {{ISBN|0230612458}}</ref> or an [[Atheism|atheist]],<ref>[{{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=DUal7eYmEnEC|page=106}} ''Atheism''], Brief Insights Series by Julian Baggini, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2009; {{ISBN|1402768826}}, p. 106.</ref><ref>[{{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=2gAjMuLivlQC|page=19}} Islamism: A Documentary and Reference Guide], John Calvert John, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008; {{ISBN|0313338566}}, p. 19.</ref><ref>...Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the secular Turkish Republic. He said: ''"I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea..."'' [{{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=oXxXxBXewzgC|page=146}} The Antipodean Philosopher: Interviews on Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand], Graham Oppy, Lexington Books, 2011, {{ISBN|0739167936}}, p. 146.</ref> who was antireligious and anti-Islamic in general.<ref>Phil Zuckerman, John R. Shook, The Oxford Handbook of Secularism, Oxford University Press, 2017, {{ISBN|0199988455}}, p. 167.</ref><ref>Tariq Ramadan, Islam and the Arab Awakening, Oxford University Press, 2012, {{ISBN|0199933731}}, p. 76.</ref> According to Atatürk, the Turkish people do not know what Islam really is and do not read the [[Quran]]. People are influenced by Arabic sentences that they do not understand, and because of their customs they go to mosques. When the Turks read the Quran and think about it, they will leave Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-07-22|title=Atatürk İslam için ne düşünüyordu? - Türkiye Haberleri - Radikal|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/ataturk-islam-icin-ne-dusunuyordu-791000/|access-date=2023-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722130231/http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/ataturk-islam-icin-ne-dusunuyordu-791000/ |archive-date=2017-07-22 }}</ref> Atatürk described Islam as the religion of the [[Arabs]] in his own work titled ''Vatandaş için Medeni Bilgiler'' by his own [[Criticism of Islam|critical]] and [[Turkish nationalism|nationalist]] views.<ref>{{Cquote|Even before accepting the religion of the Arabs, the Turks were a great nation. After accepting the religion of the Arabs, this religion, didn't effect to combine the Arabs, the Persians and Egyptians with the Turks to constitute a nation. (This religion) rather, loosened the national nexus of Turkish nation, got national excitement numb. This was very natural. Because the purpose of the religion founded by Muhammad, over all nations, was to drag to an including Arab national politics. ''(Afet İnan, Medenî Bilgiler ve M. Kemal Atatürk'ün El Yazıları, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1998, p. 364.<!-- ISBN needed -->)''}}</ref>

[[Ateizm Derneği|Association of Atheism]] (''Ateizm Derneği''), the first official atheist organisation in Middle East and Caucasus, was founded in 2014.<ref name="turkishatheist.net1">{{cite web|title=The first Atheist Association in Turkey is founded|url=http://turkishatheist.net/?p=40|website=turkishatheist.net| date=3 May 2014 |access-date=2 April 2017|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303175925/http://turkishatheist.net/?p=40|url-status=live}}</ref> It serves to support irreligious people and freethinkers in Turkey who are discriminated against based on their views. In 2018 it was reported in some media outlets that the Ateizm Derneği would close down because of the pressure on its members and attacks by pro-government media, but the association itself issued a clarification that this was not the case and that it was still active.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-atheism/turkeys-atheism-association-threatened-hostility-and-lack-interest|title=Turkey's Atheism Association threatened by hostility and lack of interest {{!}} Ahval|work=Ahval|access-date=2018-10-21|language=en|archive-date=2020-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801021302/https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-atheism/turkeys-atheism-association-threatened-hostility-and-lack-interest|url-status=dead}}</ref>