From a political perspective, Kemalism is an anti-clerical secularism which abolished the religious political establishment of the Ottoman Empire. In the Kemalist political perspective politicians cannot claim to be the protector of any religion or religious sect, and such claims constitute sufficient legal grounds for the permanent banning of political parties. The current Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while mayor of Istanbul, was once jailed for reciting poetry laced with aggressively religious terms, which was deemed by the judiciary to advocate separatism among the Turkish people, into camps of "believers" and "non-believers".
Controversially, the constitutional concept of laïcité is also used to justify a ban on Muslim women wearing Islamic coverings such as headscarfs in public universities and other public buildings. Joost Lagendijk, a member of the European Parliament and chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee with Turkey, has publicly criticized these clothing restrictions for Muslim women; whereas the European Court of Human Rights ruled in numerous cases that such restrictions in public buildings and educational institutions do not constitute a violation of human rights.
In his youth, he had a religious training, though it was short. His military training included religious imprinting. He knew the Arabic language well enough to understand and interpret the Koran. He has studied the "History of Islam" by Leone Caetani and the "History of Islamic Civilization" by Georgi Zaidan. He authored the chapter in "Islamic History" himself when he wanted history books for high schools prepared. Atatürk's religious knowledge was considerably high in its nature and level Ethem Ruhi Fığlalı states that one can clearly conclude on the basis of his speeches and attitudes that he was a sincere believer. Atatürk has stated, "He [Muhammed] is Allah's first and greatest human-being. Today, in his footsteps, millions are walking. Your and my name would get erased someday but he, eternally, is immortal.
Mustafa Kemal capitalized on his reputation as an efficient military leader and spent the following years, up until his death in 1938, instituting wide-ranging and progressive political, economic, and social reforms. In doing so, he transformed Turkish society from perceiving itself as Muslim subjects of a vast Empire into citizens of a modern, democratic, and secular nation-state.
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