Turkey has ditched the requirement for citizens to name their religion on identity cards as part of the country's bid to join the European Union.

The law was passed in January after a Christian MP said the system discriminated against non-Muslims. The new ID card will remove the "religion" category and the blue or pink colour coding to denote gender.

However religion will still be registered on the card's chip, Middle East Eye reports.

Garo Paylan, an Armenian MP for the Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), called for the change during a speech in parliament.

"When they see a name like Garo that isn't familiar, they look to find the religion listed," he said.

"When they see that I am listed as a Christian, one day's work won't get done for a week or 10 days... I am repeatedly discriminated against."

The speech followed the government's announcement it would officially renew ID cards and passports as part of its renewed bid to be accepted by the EU.

The move was announced in December after activists from the Turkish Atheist Association launched a petition calling for Turks not to be labelled "Muslim" at birth.

"We want politicians to restrain themselves when tempted to make discriminatory statements starting with 'even the atheists'," read the petition.

"We want equal treatment before the law. We do not want to be treated as though we have 'insulted religious values' when we express our faithlessness."

Turks are officially Muslim at birth and 98 per cent are listed as Islamic. However around 20 per cent are thought to adhere to Alevism, a sect related to Shia Islam which is unrecognised by the Turkish state.

Professor Niyazi Oktem, an expert in Turkish Alevi affairs, told Zaman the attitude of the Turkish state was geared towards "assimilation" of non-Sunni groups.

"Since Sunnis approach the issue with an assimilation [viewpoint] in mind, there is no concrete solution project," he said.

"The Religious Affairs Directorate is also not very sincere [about a solution to the Alevis' problems]. There is always the idea in the back of their minds of turning Alevis into Sunnis, and this can be observed."