As the year-end holidays are in full swing, conservative Muslims in Turkey fear the observances by the secular population of Christmas and New Year's will be a bad influence on the culture,
Al-Monitor reports.
The debate has raged between the religious and the secular for years, but has heated up as young Muslims push to have Christmas trees removed from public places.
Many devout Muslims confuse Christmas and New Year's, believing both are tied to Christianity, Riada Ašimović Akyol writes at the website.
Turkey's Department of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) said in 2003 that New Year's Eve is "part of a universal culture, like celebrations of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or birthdays," and unlike religious holidays such as Christmas. But more recently, Diyanet has said New Year's Eve celebrations "alienate" Muslims from their own culture, according to Al-Monitor.
Accordingly, young Muslim activists marched on December 21 carrying a giant poster reading, "A Muslim would not celebrate Christmas." An earlier protest featured signs saying, "Don't play with our sensitivities" and "Muslims celebrate Eid, not Christmas."
The debate goes both ways, Al-Monitor notes, with secularists equally dismissive of the religious.
Still, Christmas is not outlawed in the 99 percent Muslim country. Other Muslim countries, including Tajikistan, Somalia and
Brunei,have made such bans.
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