The 21st century

The 21st century
[[File:Islam by country.svg|250px|thumb|right|Islam in the world.(Green: Sunni, Red: Shia]]

[edit] Islam in Turkey
Main articles: Islam in Turkey and Secularism in Turkey
Since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, there has been a strong tradition of secularism in Turkey established and institutionalized by Atatürk's Reforms. Although the First Grand National Assembly of Turkey had rallied support from the population for the Independence War against the occupying forces on behalf of Islamic principles, Islam was gradually omitted from the public sphere after the Independence War. The principle of secularism was thus inserted in the Turkish Constitution as late as 1937. This legal action was assisted by stringent state policies against domestic Islamist groups and establishments to neutralize the strong appeal of Islam in Turkish society. Even though an overwhelming majority of the population, at least nominally, adheres to Islam in Turkey; the state, which was established with the Kemalist ideology has no official religion nor promotes any and it actively monitors the area between the religions using the Presidency of Religious Affairs. The Republic Protests were a series of peaceful mass rallies by Turkish secular citizens that took place in Turkey in 2007. The target of the first protest was the possible presidential candidacy of the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, afraid that if elected President of Turkey Erdoğan would alter the Turkish secularist state [39]