Turkey: Islam, Nationalism and Modernity

2013

In 1934, NurettinTopcu returned to Turkey after becoming the first Turkish student to obtain a doctorate in philosophy at la Sorbonne. Strongly influenced by Turkish conservative ideas, in France, Topcu became passionate of Maurice Blondel and Louis Massignon as wellhhu as the strengthening European extreme right. Back to his homeland, the Turkish intellectual worked as a publisher and teacher until his death in 1975. His articles and books became very popular among a new religious generation that were disappointed by the Republic and the secular elites. Topcu gave a re-interpretation of nationalism, provided new basis to reconstruct Muslim thought in a secular context, and a methodology to operate without clashing with the secular establishment. Indeed, Topcu is particularly important because he invented a new and peculiar lexicon for Turkish Islamism. NurettinTopcuis a key author to understand Islamism in republican Turkey as he is the author that contributed most to the shaping o...

Since 1923 and the establishment of the First Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk several efforts have been made under the prospect of Turkey’s modernisation. During the First Turkish Republic (1923-1950), this process was identified with the adoption of western-style rule of law and the exclusion of religion from the public sphere. After 1950, the coexistence of secular and Islamic tradition depicted a new challenge in Turkey’s search for a modus vivendi and empowerment of internal sociopolitical cohesion, since aspects of Islamization entered again into the public sphere after the Ottoman Empire’s dissolution. Later on, in the aftermath of the 1980 coup d'état and the rise of the Turkish-Islamic synthesis, Turkey seemed to enter into a new era, in which the peaceful coexistence of Islam and secularism – and subsequently internal stability after the 1970s’ turmoil – would be guaranteed. Nevertheless, the Turkish-Islamic synthesis has not been the ‘dove’ in Turkey’s long-standing efforts to pass through the Symplegades of secularisation and Islamisation. Starting from May 2013, the Gezi park protests came to remind to everyone that the balance between secularism and Islam in Turkey is fragile. The questions, the proposed paper comes to answer, concern the historical roots of the interrelation between secularism and Islam in Turkey. Can Islam be compatible with western-style liberal democracy and the rule of law? Under this scope, is a construction of a modernist Turkish nation-state possible? Do the Gezi Park protests represent a symptom of a long-standing conflict or just a coincidence? The above-mentioned questions are about to be examined via bibliographical research as well as interviews with Middle East, Turkey and Islam specialists. The coexistence of secularist and Islamic principles is considered the greatest challenge for Turkey’s internal stability especially in this period, when she is promoted as a ‘model’ for the diluted post-Arab Spring Greater Middle East.

Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets

Since 1937, Turkey has been officially defined as a secular state, albeit with a Muslim-majority population. However, secularism in the Turkish context is distinctive, a product of its particular historical experience and development. Both the Ottoman heritage and contemporary Turkey’s Kemalist founding fathers’ apprehension were decisive factors in the evolution of Turkish secularism (laiklik) and set Turkey’s experience apart from that of other modern secular states. Turkish understanding of secularism itself has never had one single, unambiguous interpretation in Turkey, but in general it is widely understood that it reflects a sense that the state should not be totally blind to religious issues, but also should never favor one particular religion over another. Thus, Islamic practice was carried over in the society from the Ottoman state to the new Turkish Republic and allowed republican elites to declare a new structural order, without losing hegemonic power over religion. At th...

Turkish Studies, 2022

PS: Political Science and Politics, 2007

2014

Since 1923 and the establishment of the First Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk several efforts have been made under the prospect of Turkey’s modernisation. During the First Turkish Republic (1923-1950), this process was identified with the adoption of western-style rule of law and the exclusion of religion from the public sphere. After 1950, the coexistence of secular and Islamic tradition depicted a new challenge in Turkey’s search for a modus vivendi and empowerment of internal sociopolitical cohesion, since aspects of Islamization entered again into the public sphere after the Ottoman Empire’s dissolution. Later on, in the aftermath of the 1980 coup d'état and the rise of the Turkish-Islamic synthesis, Turkey seemed to enter into a new era, in which the peaceful coexistence of Islam and secularism – and subsequently internal stability after the 1970s’ turmoil – would be guaranteed. Nevertheless, the Turkish-Islamic synthesis has not been the ‘dove’ in Turkey’s long-standing efforts to pass through the Symplegades of secularisation and Islamisation. Starting from May 2013, the Gezi park protests came to remind to everyone that the balance between secularism and Islam in Turkey is fragile. The questions, the proposed paper comes to answer, concern the historical roots of the interrelation between secularism and Islam in Turkey. Can Islam be compatible with western-style liberal democracy and the rule of law? Under this scope, is a construction of a modernist Turkish nation-state possible? Do the Gezi Park protests represent a symptom of a long-standing conflict or just a coincidence? The above-mentioned questions are about to be examined via bibliographical research as well as interviews with Middle East, Turkey and Islam specialists. The coexistence of secularist and Islamic principles is considered the greatest challenge for Turkey’s internal stability especially in this period, when she is promoted as a ‘model’ for the diluted post-Arab Spring Greater Middle East.

Turkish Studies, 2020

Turkey has long been at the center of attention as a secular Muslim-majority democracy. Yet, many scholars argue that the Turkish nation-building project was never entirely secular even during the single party era when secularists were in charge, since Islam was always an essential part of national identity in one way or another. However imperfectly secular the nation-building was, the election of the Justice and Development Party (JDP), a conservative party with Islamist roots, as the majority party in 2002, sparked concerns among pro-secularists about the future of secularism. After nearly two decades of single party control and a highly popular chief executive,

Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 2019

This paper sketches out the historical emergence and progress of political Islam in modern Turkey by emphasizing its statist and clientelistic aspects emanating from the authoritarian basis of Turkish political modernization. The paper contends that there has always been an authoritarian and autocratic tendency in modern Turkish politics that depends on a peculiar and modernist articulation of both Islamism and secularism, which eventually stand on the same ground. This very ground is formed upon a sacred understanding of the state that can be defined as an all-encompassing and absolute perfection of political power, which manifests itself differently in content for secular nationalists and Islamists, and yet produces the same authoritarian tendency. Both the secular nationalism and Islamism appear to be state oriented movements in the sense that they both have emanated from the state, and envisage to control the state in an absolute sense. KEYWORDS: Turkey, Islam, authoritarianism, clientelism

This article investigates the history of Islamic political movements in Turkey. The time period of the article cover the time after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 to the year 2000. It is argued in the article that Islamic movements were largely suppressed in the period between 1923-1945 when the country was ruled with a single party regime led by the Republican Peoples Party. With the introduction of multi-party political system in 1945, political Islam found the opportunity for political activism in the body of Democrat Party. But the political Islam found a more organized opportunity with the establishment of National Order Party in 1970 and National Salvation Party in 1971 by Necmettin Erbakan. Based on a programme of National View, the Turkish political Islam was known for its aim to support material development with a parallel moral and spiritual development with a reaction to the west in interstate relations. Turkish political Islam expressed itself with Welfare Party in 1983 to function until 1998 with some clear changes in its programme particularly in its agreement with contemporary political institutions and later support for Turkey’s integration with the west. Turkish political Islam experienced its first great electoral success during the WP period. However, the WP is closed down in 1998 by the Constitutional Court due to allegations about anti-secularism and driven to a process of breakdown. Keywords: Islamic political movements, political Islam, secularism, Turkey

Strategic Analysis, 2013

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (jdp) has continuously won elections and consolidated its power since 2002, while Turkish society has become increasingly conservative at the same time. The official implementation of the presidential system after June 2018 has triggered the world's concerns and reflections about the future direction of Turkish society: a secular road, an Islamic road, or a new path of balance between religion and secularism. This necessitates an historical analysis of Turkey's politico-religious relations. The role of Islam in Turkish society can be roughly divided into the following five stages: the suppression of Islam (1923-1950), the release of Islam (1950-), the re-politicization of Islam (1970-), the co-optation of Islam (1980-), and the new development of political Islam (2002-). During the jdp period, a fragile balance between secularism and Islamism had been achieved. But after the July 15th coup in 2016, the jdp adjusted its ideology from radical secularism to Islamic nationalism. The combination of Islamism and nationalism brings more challenges to the solidarity of Turkish society.