The Mobilization of Political Islam in Turkey

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

Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 2005

İsmail KURUN 1 Öz İslamcılıktan ilham alan üç siyasî hareket, Mısır'daki Müslüman Kardeşler (MK), Türkiye'deki Milli Görüş (MG), ve Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Ak Parti) siyasî arenada ortaya çıkışlarından itibaren farklı siyasî stratejiler uygulamışlardır. İki hareketin, MK ve MG'nin, stratejileri kendilerini nihayet iktidara taşımış, ancak çarpıcı bir şekilde, her ikisi de iktidarda sadece bir yıl civarında, sırasıyla 2012-2013 ve 1996-1997 yılları arasında, tutunabilmişler ve sonra askerî darbeler tarafından devrilmişlerdir. 1997'deki darbenin ardından MG üyeleri tarafından 2001'de kurulan Ak Parti, önceki iki partiden oldukça faklı stratejiler izleyerek, Ocak 2017 itibarıyla, Kasım 2002'den beri halen iktidardadır. Bu makale siyasî satratejiler üzerine mukayeseli bir çalışmadır ve kökleri İslamcılıkta bulunan üç farklı siyasî partinin siyasî başarılarının nasıl bu derece birbirinden farklılaşabildiği sorusuna cevap aramaktadır. Makalede öncelikle bu duruma ilişkin iki araştırma sorusu oluşturulmuş ve ardından bu sorulara yanıt verilmiştir. Makale, nihai olarak, İslamcılıktan doğan veya ondan ilham alan siyasî hareketlerin, kullandıkları siyasî stratejilere göre siyasî başarı oranlarının değişeceğini iddia etmekte ve İslamcılığı ilgilendirdiği kadarıyla siyasî başarı getiren siyasî stratejileri tespit etmektedir. Abstract Three political movements inspired by Islamism, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Egypt, the National Outlook [Milli Görüş, NO], and the Justice and Development Party (JDP) in Turkey have employed miscellaneous political strategies since their emergence on the political arena. The strategies of two movements, the MB and the NO, eventually carried them to power, yet strikingly, they both could remain in power for approximately one year, between 2012 and 2013, and between 1996 and 1997 respectively. Then, they were ousted by military coups. Being founded in 2001 by the former NO members after the 1997 military coup, the JDP has been in power since 2002 to date, 2017, by employing different strategies than the former two movements. This İsmail KURUN 18 | Manisa Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi -Cilt: 15, Sayı: 2, Haziran 2017 article aims at investigating why three political parties have differed so much in terms of their political success although their roots are almost in the same ideology, namely Islamism. Two research questions are formed and answered in the article that ultimately argues that political parties inspired by Islamism may differ in their levels of political success if they employ different political strategies. The article also determines the strategies that bring about political success to the extent that they relate to Islamism.

Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 1999

Recent Turkish politics have witnessed an outstanding and unexpected triumph of political Islam. Under the leadership of Necmettin Erbakan, a senior politician of the Islamist cause, the pro-Islamist Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) emerged from the national elections of December 1995 as the largest party in parliament. After a six month struggle, it came to power in June 1996 as the senior partner in a coalition government with Ciller's True Path Party (TPP) and with Erbakan as prime minister. Before that, in March 1994, Welfare Party (WP) won municipal elections in several large cities. These developments vexed the Turkey's secular establishment; at first they attempted to block Erbakan's efforts to form a government. That is why Erbakan's search for a coalition partner took six months. After forming government, the military, who views itself as the main guardian of the secular "Kemalist" state, tended to become involved in daily politics in order to protect the secularist state from so-called Islamicist infiltrations. In fact, on February 28, 1997, the military dominated National Security Council issued a decree that required curbs on Islamic minded political, social, cultural, and economic groups. In the end, the military's "supervision" of Erbakan's government resulted in its forced resignation in June 1997. Following this, the pressure on the Islamist groups increased, with the some secular leaders hoping for a "settling of accounts" with political Islam. It is interesting that the rise of Islam in recent Turkish politics, particularly in the case of Welfare Party, was considered a surprising event by both Turkish and foreign scholars. Just as an "Islamic revival" after the Democrat Party's coming to power in 1950 meant (among other things) adopting a relatively liberal policy towards Islam, so today "Islamic fundamentalism" is on the agenda not only of political circles, but also of academics. As the Turkish State elite began to think how to handle this "threat" to the secular Republic, it felt ready to find a "scientific" treatment for this "disease". Some felt a need to address the issue of reconciling Islam and democracy. Consequently, the literature on political Islam in general and the Welfare Party in particular, started to increase. Nevertheless, one thing remained unchanged: the advance of Islam in Turkey has been considered an accidental even pathological phenomenon. In this article I want to examine this approach that sees pro-Islamic tendencies as an abnormality and try to introduce a better way to understand this phenomenon.

POLITICS AND RELIGION JOURNAL, 2020

Pan-Islamism was one of the political ideas emerged in the Ottoman Empire in the 19thc.This study aims to outline the ideas of the Islamist movement in the Ottoman era and to put forward the agreements or differences of opinion vis-a-vis the Islamist movement in the Republican era with respect to their perspectives on the state and modernization.The main argument of this study is that,contrary to what the current literature claims,the organization of the Justice and Development Party did not mark a third generation,rather,changing their discourses,the Islamists in the Republican era continued their political activities within the body of Felicity Party of National Outlook Movement(NOM).Republican era of Islamists will be examined in the axis of NOM. Firstly,the political ideas of the Ottoman Empire in the 19thc will be introduced.The main aims of political movements in this century will be described and the differences between them will be identified.A detailed examination of the Is...

Turkish Studies, 2013

This study examines what has been overlooked by most studies of Islamist activism in the early years of the multi-party politics (1945-60) in Turkey. By examining the formal and informal political institutions, power relations and practices, it reveals that the early Islamists did not remain content with only socio-cultural activities. They effectively and creatively engaged with and within the political field, enjoyed an impact disproportionate to their actual numbers and power, and set the parameters for future Islamist activism. In so doing, they reproduced the Republican orthodoxy while advancing their heterodox claims. Islamist movements have played a critical role in Republican Turkey's political life since the passage to multi-party politics in 1945. Yet, little is known of the political nature of Islamist mobilization during the early years of multi-party politics. Most studies of Islamism in Turkey adopt a macro-sociological approach that takes the emergence of an Islamist political party in the formal sphere of politics in 1970 as the starting point of Islamist political engagement. When addressing the early years of multi-party politics, this approach, although recognizing the emergence of certain Islamist groups and publications, does not consider their political activism and tends to focus on merely Islamic "cultural activities," explaining them as a natural outcome of the relative loosening of the state's grip on religion. 1 This study delves into Islamist activism between 1945 and 1960 to bring the political into analyses of this time period. Drawing from social movement theories and Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, it examines formal and informal political institutions, power relations, and the practices of political actors. In so doing, this piece unravels the enabling and constraining factors around Islamist activists' emergence, resource mobilization, and engagement with other political actors that allowed (or disallowed) them to impact the political arena and the state.

Book Review, 2015

Turkey has long been perceived as an intriguing country for social scientists to study, mostly due to its Muslim secularist constituency, lately resulting in a vast literature on the unprecedented upsurge of political Islam. Kayhan Delibas contributes to this litera- ture in his latest book. His book is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research in suburban districts of Ankara (Keçiören and Mamak), conducted with the activist members of Islamist political parties.

International Political Science Review, 2009

The September 11 atrocities have brought Islamic movements to the focus of world media and academic discussions on an unforeseen scale. However, not only the media reports but most academic discussions have confused the reason with the results in their studies. Sociological analyses suggested that these movements arise not solely on religious grounds or based on the 'hatred of the Western civilization', but as a response to diverse socio-economic and political conditions that are being aggravated by rapid urbanisation and globalisation processes. In order to shed light on the way in which Islamic movements emerge and raise the case of Turkish Islamic movement will be analyzed. Key words: Islamic movements, globalization, neoliberlism, grassroots activism, rapid urbanization.

2008

Political Islam is a concept that draws attention in political science and international relations. Turkey is a unique model of the various usages of political Islam in a secular state. Moreover, unlike other Muslim countries, Turkey has a comparatively long history since the beginning of the Republic of Turkey. In this respect, the paper will analyze Turkish politics and parties from a historical perspective. I investigate the Democrat, Welfare, and Justice and Development Parties to understand political Islam in Turkey. I ask if these parties had an Islamist agenda and if they exploited Islam for political reasons. In order to find out which objectives of theirs have links to political Islam; I will examine party programs and policy implications of these three parties. Then, I will compare their agendas and try to find evidence of uses of Islam in foreign, education, and economic policies and religious&moral values in their agendas. After analyzing the parties, I will categorize them using the classification of Daniel Brumberg. I expect that this study will show differences among parties and the evolution of political Islam in Turkey over the decades. Also, this study can help by showing Turkey's sui generis characteristics; other Muslim countries can not be compared with Turkish experience with Islam.