The rise of conservatism in Turkish society has been a hotly debated topic during the nearly thirteen years of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rule. However a new study by Gezici Research published on Saturday, the ‘Religious Attitudes in Turkey’ survey, reveals that religiosity is in overall decline nationwide.

The survey results show that there was a steady rise in religious conservatism since the AK Party first took power in 2002, which continued on through the 2007 and 2011 general elections with the AK Party winning the vote by greater and greater margins each time.

However, the figures began dropping as of 2013, the year the country broke out into nationwide protests against growing authoritarianism and the AK Party was rocked by multiple corruption investigations implicating its leadership. Ultimately, the party lost its parliamentary majority in the June 7th, 2015 general election, the first time it was unable to form a one-party government since first taking power in 2002.

“There has been a decline in the number of those who identify themselves as religious conservative since 2013,” said Gezici Research General Manager Murat Gezici. “There has been a decline in the level of conservatism in Turkey.”

Fewer citizens identify as religious conservative

When asked whether or not they identified as a religious conservative for the 2015 Gezici survey, 30.2 percent of participants responded, ‘yes,’ 35.8 percent responded, ‘I am on certain issues,’ and 34 percent responded, ‘no.’

By contrast the number of those who responded ‘no’ in 2013 was 30.6 percent, representing an increase of over 3 percent in just two years. It should be noted that the percentage of those who didn’t identify as conservative was 44 percent in 2002.

Meanwhile those who did identify as religious conservative were 25.7 percent in 2002, 27.5 percent in 2007, 32.3 percent in 2011 and 30.6 percent in 2013. Those who felt ‘conservative on certain issues’ constituted 29.7 percent of the respondents in 2002, 33.6 percent in 2007, 35.3 percent in 2011 and 38.8 percent in 2013.

Both figures have declined since 2013, 0.4 percent and 3 percent respectively.

The data shows that those who respond ‘yes’ increases with age while those who say ‘no’ increases with educational level.

Observance of Islamic rites in decline

A similar shift in attitudes was observed in Islamic prayer, with 28.2 percent of respondents regularly praying five times a day in 2013, declining to 26.2 percent in 2015. 27.5 percent said they pray, but not regularly, compared to 29.7 percent in 2013, while those who said they never pray went up from 22.7 percent in 2013 to 27.5 percent in 2015.

Meanwhile those who said they only attend Friday prayers, the most important prayers in Islam, remained at 14.8 percent for both 2013 and 2015.

Similar to identification as a religious conservative, the percent of those who regularly pray increases with age and decreases with educational level. Also, women are more likely to regularly pray than men.

Asked whether or not they fasted during the holy month of Ramadan, those who said they fasted during the whole month were 42.1 percent compared to 44.6 percent in 2013, those who occasionally fasted some days was 28.4 percent compared to 30.5 percent in 2013, while those who said they never fasted went up nearly 5 points to 29.5 percent from 24.9 percent in 2013.

The rate of fasting increases with age, also women are more likely to fast then men. Turkey’s Central, Black Sea, East and Southeast Anatolia regions observe the Ramadan fast at rates much higher than the national average.

Regarding women, 53.2 percent wear a headscarf, 12.5 percent wear a full hijab and 2.1 percent wear the complete veil. The percentage of women who don’t cover their hair at all is 32.2 percent, constituting a rise in recent years.

The data also shows that the percentage of women between the ages of 18-27 covering their hair has risen four times greater than other age groups.

Additionally, religious television programming is not popular among any groups, with no such program making it to the top fifteen most-watched shows even during the month of Ramadan. The top fifteen are all either game shows or serials.

However, despite the numbers all pointing to a decline in religiosity, more people are convinced now than in 2013 that conservatism has grown in Turkish society – apparently as a result of an increase in the number of women wearing headscarves at universities and work places.

When asked if religious conservatism has become more prevalent in Turkey, 33.8 percent of the respondents said ‘yes’ while 52.5 percent said it has not. In 2013, 30.6 percent had responded ‘yes’ to the same question while 55.2 had said ‘no.’

Gezici’s 2015 Religious Attitudes in Turkey survey was conducted on July 4th-5th and included face-to-face interviews of 4,860 participants across Turkey.