It has also increased the number of religious schools, known as imam hatip schools, and spoken of Mr. Erdogan’s desire to raise “a pious generation” of young Turks. To add to the complexity, Mr. Erdogan’s party — the Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P. One of Mr. Erdogan’s best-known supporters, Cem Kucuk, an outspoken commentator, has even called for hard-line Islamists to be expelled from the party. Despite Mr. Erdogan’s increasing authoritarianism, roughly half the country still voted against plans to give him more power in a recent referendum. “Most of these people are those who don’t think religion should have such a central place in society,” Mr. Oktem said.

Source: New York Times June 23, 2017 17:37 UTC