Political Islam in Turkey Selimiye Mosque, A picture from the Single Party Period

Historical Background Establishment period of the Republic: Laicism not secularism. State control on religion [i.e. Directorate of Religious Affairs] Two missions: 1. Modernizing the conservative population, 2. Protecting the Republican public sphere from the expressions of rural and religious culture Multi-party period: Relative relaxation [Faculty of Divinity by RPP & Ezan in Arabic by DP]

Pro-Islamic Political Parties National Order Party By Erbakan (1970) Representation of the small and medium scale industrialists of Anatolia Anti-Americanism and anti-Europeanism Emphasis on religious values and norms Closed down in 1971 National Salvation Party (1972) Rejection of Westernization The idea of restoration of Ottoman institutions and culture Aydınlar Ocağı, the Hearth of the Enlightened ! [Formulation of Turkish Islamic Synthesis] National View / Milli Görüş As the part of National Front Governments, colonizing the ministries.

Political Islam in the 1980s 1980 Military Coup Instrumentalizing Islamic discourse: Turkish-Islamic synthesis Purpose: Diminishing the power of the left and depoliticizing masses Islamists in ANAP, continuing infiltration [Cemil Çiçek, Abdulkadir Aksu…] Increasing number of mosques Disseminating religious education The year of 1987: Refah Partisi- Welfare Party established

Political interactions in the 1990s Turkish armed forces as the guardian of Kemalism. Principles to be safeguarded: [1] Laicism, [2] A modern/Western identity and lifestyle, [3] The cultural homogeneity and territorial unity of the nation The rise of identity politics>> Challenges by Islamic movement and the Kurdish movement >> The “Political Army” polarizing politics: “Reactionary Islamists” vs. “Secularists” + “Patriots” vs. “Separatists” Islam getting out of the state control: Political Islam gaining popular character – so called Irtica Persisting military power in the 1990s: A decade of political and economic instability, weak coalition governments

Political Interactions in the 1990s 1991- General Election DYP (%27) ANAP (% 24) SHP (20.75) RP (%16.8) DSP (%10.7) 1995- General Election RP (%21.4) ANAP (%19.6) DYP (%19.8) DSP (%14.6) CHP (%10.7) 1999- General Election DSP (%22.2) MHP (%18) FP (%15.4) ANAP (%13.2) DYP (%12)

Islamic Mobilization- Welfare Party Welfare Party relies on a different segment in the society: Urban poor, unlike NOP or NSP in the 1970s originating from within Anatolia How Welfare Party became successful? Not high politics, activism on the local level Adopting a left discourse and practice in the absence of the revolutionary left in Turkey Just order- “Adil Düzen” Despite working a lot for organizing people, political representation of women was limited in RP.

1994 Municipal Elections DYP: % 21.5, ANAP: % 21.07, RP: % 19.1 SHP: % 13.4 RP gained the control of most of the metropolitan municipalities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Erzurum, Konya, Kayseri, Diyarbakir. Signs of getting more popular Attempts for Islamization of public sphere [A mosque in Taksim !?] A new door into the rise of Islamic bourgeoisie.

Crucial Events during Refah-Yol Government Susurluk Accident : “The state” within the state revealed > Response of the society: “Sürekli Aydınlık İçin Bir Dakika Karanlık Eylemi” > Turning to be a collective action against Refah-Yol > Erbakan: “Gulu Gulu Dansı Yapıyorlar” Erbakan’s visit to Libya Escalation of the conflict: Kurdish question deepens

28 February 1997: The “post-modern’ Military Coup Why it is called as “post-modern”? A powerful media campaign for creating righteousness of a military intervention> Claim: “Sheria is approaching, Islamist reactionism is about to prevail!” Play on Palestine> Tanks in Sincan NSC gave a list of measures designed to nullify the supposed Islamization of Turkey and fortify the secular system. The government resigned in June 1997 Constitutional court closed down WP and Erbakan suspended for 10 years

The AKP Coming from within Welfare Party – so called National View Tradition The ideology of the AKP has three important facets: [1] Identity politics relying on conservatism, The return of the “Oppressed”: Deliberate ambiguity of AKP towards political Islam > So called “conservative democrats” [2] Authoritarian democracy (after 2010), [3] Neo-liberalism populism Periodization of a decade: 2002-2005: Struggle to Survive 2006-2009: “The Fight” 2009- 2012 : Consolidation of AKP power

Tinerci Nesil VS. Dindar Nesil?