The clash between secularism principle and freedom of religion under European Convention on Human Rights and Turkish Constitution.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term “secular” as “not connected with religious or spiritual”.
The link between notions of secularism and religion is very important.

Donald E. Smith, Professor of Political Science in Pennsylvania University gave a definition of a secular state:
“A secular state is a state which guarantees individual and corporate freedom of religion, deals with the individual as a citizen irrespective of his religion, is not constitutionally connected to a particular religion, nor does it seek to promote or interfere with religion”

This definition is particularly interesting because it speaks about the freedom of religion.
The main challenge is to conciliate the two principles: secularism and religious freedom.

The secular nature of the Turkish state is provided in its constitution.
Secularism is one of the first provisions in the constitutional text.
Indeed, the article 2 of the 1982 constitution says that "The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular and social state (...)."
We can also note that article 4 provides that "The provision of Article 1 of the Constitution establishing the form of the state as a Republic, the provisions in Article 2 on the characteristics of the Republic, and the provision of Article 3 shall not be amended, nor shall their amendment be proposed".
This means that secularism is a particularly protected value of the Turkish republic.

Freedom of religion has also a place in the constitution, in the chapter 2 concerning “rights and duties of the individual”.
The article 24 says that “Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religious belief and conviction”.
Freedom of religion is a universal principle in the democratic societies.

That is why European Convention on Human Rights of November 4 of 1950 (ECHR) has also special provisions about it.