ABSTRACT
Turkey is a Muslim majority country; 97.8 percent of Turks are Muslim. Of these, 72 percent are Sunnis. Shiites and Alevites are 25 percent. Bektasi Sufiïsm, a dervish branch of Sunni Islam, has deep roots in Ottoman history. Sufiïsm is a moderate and mystical practice with ties to Shiism. Turkey’s secular system of governance established the impartiality of the state towards all religious groups. Impartiality was intended to mitigate potential conflict between religions and sects. Though Mustafa Kemal Ataturk created a secular state from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, the Hanefi branch of Sunni Islam was dominant in society.
