Laicism (also laicity, from the Ancient Greek "λαϊκός" "laïkós", meaning "layperson" or "non-cleric") refers to a legal and political model based on the strict separation of religion and state. The French term laïcité was coined in 1871 by French educator and future Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ferdinand Buisson, who advocated for secular education. In some countries, laicism is constitutionally enshrined, while others—primarily Western states—do not explicitly define themselves as Laicist but implement varying degrees of separation between religion and government.
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👉 Laicism in the context of Secularism in Turkey
In Turkey, secularism or laicism (see laïcité) was first introduced with the 1928 amendment of the Constitution of 1924, which removed the provision declaring that the "Religion of the State is Islam", and with the later reforms of Turkey's first president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which set the administrative and political requirements to create a modern, democratic, secular state, aligned with Kemalism.
Nine years after its introduction, laïcité was explicitly stated in the second article of the then Turkish constitution on 5 February 1937. The current Constitution of 1982 neither recognizes an official religion nor promotes any.
In this Dossier
Laicism in the context of Workers' Party of Turkey (2017)
The Workers' Party of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye İşçi Partisi, TİP) is a socialist political party in Turkey. The party was founded out of a split in the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP). As a result of the internal strife between two rival factions, the group led by former chairman Erkan Baş initially established People's Communist Party of Turkey (HTKP) in 2014, and after three years, it was rebranded as the Workers' Party of Turkey in 2017.
Adopting Marxism-Leninism as its guide and reconciling it with left-wing populism, the TİP is against capitalism, imperialism, and all forms of exploitation, oppression and discrimination. The party embraces progressive values such as laicism and public ownership, and struggles for the preservation and improvement of democratic and civil rights, freedom of organization, assembly, speech and press. It also strongly advocates for the rights of the Kurdish people, women and LGBT groups in Turkey.
Laicism in the context of Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI (Latin: Gregorius PP. XVI; Italian: Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon entering the religious order of the Camaldolese. He is the most recent pope to take the pontifical name "Gregory", the last to govern the Papal States for the whole duration of his pontificate, and the most recent not to have been a bishop when elected.
Reactionary in tendency, Gregory XVI opposed democratic and modernising reforms in the Papal States and throughout Europe, seeing them as fronts for liberalism and laicism. Against these trends, he sought to strengthen the religious and political authority of the papacy, a position known as ultramontanism. In the encyclical Mirari vos, he pronounced it "false and absurd, or rather mad, that we must secure and guarantee to each one liberty of conscience". He encouraged missionary activity abroad and condemned the slave trade, which at the time of his pontificate was increasingly suppressed.