İştar Gözaydın. Religion in Turkey: From the “Management of Religion” Approach to Where?

İştar Gözaydın is a professor at Gediz University, Izmir specializing in legal and political theory. The main focus of her research is on the relations between the state and religion, the similarities and differences between Anglo-Saxon and European secularism, and the formation of modern religious groups. She is a founder of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, a human rights organization in Turkey. Gözaydın was a research fellow at the University of London, Birkbeck College in 2009. Her recent publications include “Management of Religion in Turkey: the Diyanet and Beyond” in Özgür Heval Çınar and Mine Yıldırım (eds.): Freedom of Religion and Belief in Turkey, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2014, 10-35; “Ahmet Davutoğlu: Role as an Islamic Scholar Shaping Turkey’s Foreign Policy” in Nassef Manabilang Adiong (ed.): Islam and International Relations, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2013; “Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı” in John L. Esposito (ed): Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Oxford University Press 2009.

Ayşe Çavdar is an independent anthropologist and journalist specializing in the questions of religion, secularism, urbanism, and social justice. She received a degree in communications from Ankara University, followed by an MA degree from Bosphorus University and a PhD from the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). She is a frequent contributor to several periodicals.