Ali Bardakoglu, the head of Türkiye's Religious Affairs Department, told a symposium in Istanbul that European Union member states do not share a common framework for managing the relationship between government and religion.
Speaking at the gathering, Bardakoglu said each EU country has developed its own distinct approach, shaped by its particular history, social makeup, and political choices.
He also raised questions about how Türkiye frames its own domestic debates on religion, noting that discussions around secularism and modernity in the country tend to be filtered through a broadly Western perspective.
Bardakoglu questioned whether political discourse and cultural policy built on that outlook can accurately capture social and religious realities in the modern world and in Türkiye itself.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in December 2006, in its own words.