%90 of Turks want secularism to be kept

[Kemalisté]

A recent survery shows that a majority of Turkish people want secularism to be included in the country’s new charter, adding that the new charter should be in line with Atatürk’s principles.

An overwhelming majority of Turkish people want secularism to be included in the country’s new charter, a recent survey conducted by KONDA for the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) has revealed.

Almost 90 percent of survey participants said the country should be defined as secular in the new Constitution. Some 50.6 percent said the definition of secularism should be kept as it is, and 40.7 percent said secularism should be “redefined to keep an equal distance from all religions.”

The new Constitution should also be in line with the principles of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, a majority of those surveyed said. Some 82 percent agreed that the charter must include “Atatürk’s principles and reforms and Atatürk's nationalism,” as it currently does.

Source: Hürriyet newspaper

- I think the most important point is the half of the country still support Laïcité (French secularism) that is often used as an excuse to ban Islamic way of dressing in public areas, but there is a considerable conservative population who want it to be revised and who I think support a more Anglo-Saxon/American style of secularism. It's still a great slap from the people against the government promoting the second kind of secularism.

- The people have showed their loyalty to Ataturk's principles and reforms and opposed any attempt to extract his name from the constitution