INTRODUCTION
Since the early days of the Turkish Republic, Islamist parties and groups positioned themselves against the values and institutions of the secular republic. Their stance against the secular state also defined their position against the west and modernization. For Islamists, the Kemalist state was in cooperation with the West and all the decisions made by the secular state against religion were inspired by the West. According to them, all the attempts to modernize and westernize the state specifically were aimed at undermining Islamic values.
The struggle between state and Islamists, initiated by the reforms to create a modern nation state, such as the abolition of the Caliphate, the abolition of Islamic schools, the abolishment of sharia law, the introduction of Latin script, the removal of state religion from the constitution, deepened after `the transition to multi-party period. This struggle shaped the mindset of Islamist political parties until mid-1990s. During this period of time, Islamic parties defined themselves as “anti-western” and rejected political culture and values of the West. Therefore, their political discourse always attacked to liberalism, democracy, secularism and the European Union since they were the products of the Western world.
However, the liberalization of the Turkey after 1980 in economic and political realms and the developments in global political order transformed the political nature of Turkish Islamist movement and Islamist parties have turned to a liberal and democrat wing in Turkish political life.
In this paper, I will focus on the dynamics of the transformation of Islamist groups and argue that the military intervention on February 1997 became a turning point for the Islamis...
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Periodicals
Milliyet, Yenişafak, Hürriyet, Zaman, Birikim
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www.saadet.org.tr
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...itly the Christian Orthodox and Jews, which were the largest minority groups from Turkey. In addition, according to nationalist elites, these minorities were assimilable thus, were not capable of becoming part of the Turkish nation. Also, they stated that, the Non-Muslim minorities, mainly the Greek, were not composed of loyal citizens but possible traitors to the Turkish state (Guven 2006). Adnan Menderes believed that was national and extremely important responsibility of every Turk to implement the Turkification, in an attempt to establish an independent Turkish state. A corollary of this concept was the effort of assimilation of the Greek minority by force, exercising a policy of discrimination and restrictions against it. In this context, the language, culture and desires of Non-Muslim minorities had to be connected with the history and dignity of Turks.
Walton, Mark.W., George. F. Nafziger, and Laurent. W. Mbanda, Islam at War: A History, Praeger/Greenwood, 2003
Islam has been a dominant force throughout Turkish history. During the Ottoman Empire, Islam ruled every part of the theocratic state, but after the demise of the empire, Turkey's rulers led the country away from political Islam. The modern Turkish state has a strictly secular government, and Islam has been relegated to the personal sphere. Although Turkey has experienced a rise in fundamentalism in the past twenty years, the separation of church and state has remained relatively intact. Even with this increase of fundamentalist Islam, the wide majority of Muslims in Turkey are moderate and tolerant. They have adapted to modern life and value Islam for its moral and spiritual messages. Islam is a guide for right living and ethical conduct rather than a political system. Turkey constantly struggles to balance Islamic life with a secular government. Although the government wants to maintain a strict separation between religion and politics, it cannot ignore the power and influence that Islam has in the lives of the Turkish people.
...tions, which makes these groups much more dangerous. Behind the peaceful and reasonable mask, they seem quite harmless, which gives chances to act on sly. Intentions are overt; Islam religion and Muslim identity are seen as the only source of universality. The Ramadan’s sayings are like explicit indicator of their visions that is believed that all humanity either with gentle coercion or with overt violence will be Muslim. “One day we shall go back to the source!” (qtd in Bogaard). As long as Europe does not struggle to recover its weakness that generates powerless image in the eye of Muslims and does not abolish the Europe- Arab alliance that causes dependency on Arab countries; ultimately, cannot stop that the radical groups’ increasing power, the Islamization of Europe will become faster. In the light of these reasons, the coexistence in Europe is not possible.
Turkish-Syrian relations have almost always been soured and hostile in some fashion, dating back as early as the 1500’s. With a perpetual tit-for-tat policy and retaliation method that has been in effect between the two nations, it wasn’t until around 2003 or so in which Turkish relations to Syria had turned mostly friendly in response to the United States’ invasion of Iraq and Assad growing concerned over Syria being invaded as well. To gain more allies and help deter against this, Assad looked to Turkey for support, who was not only happy to better their ties with Syria, but was also in strong disagreement with the United States’ decision to invade Iraq as well. That is until the last five years in which the acting government in Syria has become increasingly more violent and hostile to it’s own people; essentially forcing the Turkish government to reject the growing friendly ties in the name of democracy. The geographic placement of Turkey in relation to the Middle-East and Europe, and particularly Syria, puts the country as a whole in a precarious situation from multiple powerful influences, such as NATO, the EU as well as the UN, and on the inverse, major Islamic figures and traditions held in the region. Because of this, Turkish history has been shaped and formed from the two major influences pulling on the country in very contrasting ways: The west, and the benefits of modernity and non-secularism in the state, and the East, and the fundamental religious beliefs of many who reside there who do not wish to break tradition or stray from their fundamental beliefs. Today is no different, although Turkey is increasingly leaning to the western state of mind and politics as a result of the shaky rela...
Over the course of the last century, the Islamic Republic of Iran (formerly known as Persia) has seen colonialism, the end of a dynasty, the installation of a government by a foreign power, and just over three decades ago, the popular uprising and a cleric-led revolution. These events preceded what could be considered the world’s first Islamic state, as politics and fundamentalist religion are inextricably linked in contemporary Iran. Looking at Iran from the mid 1940’s until the present day, one can trace the path that led to the rise of fundamental Islam in Iran in three distinct periods. The first is that which began with the rise of secular nationalism and the decline of Islam. In the second, the secular, western-friendly government eventually gave way to the Islamic revival in the form of a government takeover by hard-line clerics and disillusioned, fundamentalist youth; both motivated and led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Rule of Iran by these fundamentalist clerics then led to the formation of the fundamentalist Islamic theocracy that governs present-day Iran. The current government has some democratic appearances, but all real power is in the hands of the supreme leader, an Ayatollah who is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics chosen by the Guardian Council. With the Iranian Revolution, political Islam was born, with the fundamentalists holding the reins of power in Iran to the present day.
Democracy and Islam, an article written by Irfan Ahmad1 strives to show that there is a possibility that Islam can move towards democracy. On the other hand, Islam and Liberal Democracy: A Historical Overview, an article written by Bernard Lewis2 discusses how a democracy is unable to work in Islamic States. In this essay, I will be comparing and contrasting the two articles. Both Bernard and Irfan carry weight in their arguments and have certain strong points, as well as weaknesses. The major difference between the two articles is the variation of the core definition of democracy that the writers have, and their distinct perspectives of the workings of a democracy. In addition, the articles also differ in their chosen format and the authors’ thoughts on the Catholic and Western influence. The fundamental dispute of democracy and Islam are strong in both articles, and they are resolved in a respective manner. Irfan was successful in formulating a more compelling case and was able to maintain better structure; however, I am a firm believer that Islam is a theocratic system and it is not compatible with democracy as a system of governance.
Throughout the 20th century, the rise of political Islam has been one of the major events. The Islamic religion is followed by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide; however, it has become an ideological project for some.
Between 1301 to 1922, in the region north of present day Syria, was known as the Ottoman empire. It was rooted in the belief that Islam as an ideology should be in power. One territory held by the Ottoman empire was their homeland of Turkey. In 1907, the Sultan Abdul Hamid II, wanted for the most part to have people who were educated outside of the country limited in what they could do, and if not then they were expunged, as he thought that they were the cause of his land’s plight and decline. This resulted in him becoming very unpopular with his people, thus having many secret societies created practically under his nose. The most important being The Young Turks.
Turkey’s involvement in the World War 1 provided cover for extreme elements of the very nationalistic Young Turks regime to carry ...
Religion plays a large role in the acceptance and denial of countries applying for E.U. membership. Turkey has been the applicant with the greatest amount of difference between its predominant religion and that of most E.U. countries. Turkey’s government claims to be secular, but works to spread the Alevi form of the Muslim faith in its country. Turkey’s legislature also manages Islam in its country. Turkey is far more supportive of a particular church than any country in the E.U. This creates a glaring schism between Turkey and the rest of the EU, providing even more reason not to accept Turkey as a member state. The endorsement of the Alevi form of Islam in turn causes those of other faiths to be discriminated against. Turkish school children must attend schools where they have taught Islam and laws restricting forms of Islam other than Alevi are in effect in some locations in Turkey (The Economist 14). The roadblocks that these factors place in the way of Turkey’s acceptance into the E.U. are clear. The discrimination against minorities could keep Turk...
The cases of Turkey and Uzbekistan are different because Uzbekistan has embraced Sufism into their government. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in Sufism that has not been present for some time in the country. There have been some political analyst that have called Sufism a moderate alternative, and that has reignited the interest in Sufism . The active participation of Sufism would be against the secularism that Turkey established during the beginning of the nation. The younger generations do not possess the same opinion as the older generations, and in given time the secularism may disappear or lessen. Even then, the older generations have a waning opposition to Sufism because “Sufi leaders say that tolerance of the more heterodox sects has extended even to the Justice and Development Party [AKP] government” . Given time, Sufism may push for less secularism but for now, that will need to gain traction. Fethullah Gullen Hizmah, the leader of the Gülen movement, proposes an “integrated approach to life enables Turkish people to preserve what is best and still valuable from the past and accept and make use of scientific and technological advances”, which will be similar to the African nation of Senegal . A movement such as this would change Turkey and redefine the roles of the citizens that are
There is a strong belief that Islam and politics are directly tied. They are tied in the sense that the building blocks of the religion dictate how they ought to behave in the political environment. Through this mandatory follow up behavior that the religion delineates, many have come to believe that its teachings are a form of terrorism. Mandaville argues that what has challenged the Islamic link between politics and religion was the emergence of secularism, which went against the belief that politics and religion could go together. Islam has been a religion that has been accused of supporting terrorist activities in the world. Different assumptions have been brought up to understand better the linkages between what really lies behind the Islam religion and politics. Peter Mandaville argues that Islam is dynamic and that it has changed over time; situated within time and politics.
...olutionist reforms proved permanent, and gave Turkey domestic peace and a measure of prosperity even in his lifetime. But Kemalism has also left Turkey with a divided identity - Europeanised but not quite European, alienated from the Islamic world but still a Muslim country.
Islamic nation. As examples given earlier about modernization which includes nations such as Turkey and on the other side of the spectrum the practice of Islamic Shariah. As a final note, my main objective from this book review is to see Islam from the eye of Muslims and Non-Muslims alike.