In establishing the Turkish state in 1923, Atatürk aimed at eliminating Islam from official public life. Yet, instead of relegating religion to the private sphere, the state assumed responsibility for supervising and controlling religious activity, thus maintaining organizational links between religious institutions and the state bureaucracy. The Turkish version of separation of church and state took a different form from what is generally understood by this term in the United States: religious institutions were not separated from the state, but rather became subservient to it. For example, when the caliphate and the Chief Religious Office of the State were abolished, the Grand National Assembly created a Directorate of Religious Affairs under the direct supervision of the prime minister. The agency manages Islam and controls mosques and mausoleums in the country. In order to understand the reason why the state has been controlling Islam in Turkey, one has to analyze the Ottoman Empire's state structure and the failure of the modernization attempts started in that era.

ISLAM IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Islam was the dominant force in all areas of the Ottoman Empire. The sultan (ruler of the empire) was at the same time the caliph (religious leader of the Muslim world). Thus, the sultan was not considered the representative of the people, but of God. Political obedience to the ruler on the part of the community was the duty of every Muslim, since the political order had divine sanction.