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Ankara: Turks Intolerant Of Religious Diversity, Says Poll

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  • Ankara: Turks Intolerant Of Religious Diversity, Says Poll

    TURKS INTOLERANT OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY, SAYS POLL

    Today's Zaman
    01 October 2009, Thursday

    A survey conducted by a private research company has shown that a great
    majority of the public does not want atheists, Jews or Christians
    for neighbors and also disapproves of their employment at top state
    institutions, the Radikal daily reported yesterday.

    Conducted by the Frekans research company as part of a project to
    promote the Turkish Jewish community and its culture, the poll gauged
    Turks' views on different ethnic and religious groups in Turkey,
    the Jewish community in particular. Fifty-seven percent of 1,108
    people surveyed in the poll said they did not want to have atheist
    neighbors, while 42 percent said they did not want Jewish neighbors and
    35 percent of respondents were reluctant to have Christian neighbors.

    Furthermore, when asked whether they would feel uncomfortable if
    people from Turkey's non-Muslim communities were employed by top
    state institutions, 57 percent of respondents expressed discomfort
    with the idea of someone from these groups being employed by the
    National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T), while 55 percent stated
    that they did not want non-Muslims to be members of the judiciary or
    the police force.

    When participants were asked whether they have close friends who are
    Alevi, Kurd, atheist, Greek, Armenian or Jewish, 64 percent stated that
    they had a Kurdish friend, while 53 percent said they had a friend
    from the Alevi community. The participants were also asked how they
    defined themselves. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they defined
    themselves as "citizens of the Turkish Republic," while 19 percent
    described themselves as "Muslim" and another 19 percent identified
    themselves as "Turkish." Two percent defined themselves as Kurdish.
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