Islam and democracy in Turkey: Toward a reconciliation?

Middle East Journal

Volumn 51, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 32-45

  Heper, Metin ^a  

^a BILKENT UNIVERSITY   (Turkey)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0001953331     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Refah Partisi is often translated into English as the "Welfare Party." As the party primarily aims to provide for the welfare of the people by increasing the overall wealth in the country as well as by a more just distribution of that wealth, the "Prosperity Party" rather than the "Welfare Party" seems to be a more accurate translation. In addition, in Turkish refah brings to mind first and foremost prosperity rather than welfare.
2. Bernard Lewis, "Islam and Liberal Democracy," Atlantic 271 (February 1993), pp. 89-93.
3. Ibid., p. 89.
4. Bernard Lewis, "Modern Turkey Revisited," Humanities 2 (May/June 1990), p. 11.
5. Juan J. Linz. "Transitions to Democracy," Washington Quarterly 13, no. 3 (1990), p. 158.
6. The point about the military's unwillingness to intervene once again draws upon the views of the last three chiefs of the general staff, reported in Metin Heper and Aylin Güney. "The Military in the Third Turkish Republic," Armed Forces and Society 22 (Summer 1996), pp. 619-42.
7. Unless otherwise indicated, the following account of the secularist socialization of Turks draws mostly upon earlier studies by Metin Heper, such as "Islam, Polity and Society in Turkey: A Middle Eastern Perspective," The Middle East Journal 35, no. 3 (Summer 1981), pp. 350-58. See also Howard A. Reed, "Atatürk's Secularizing Legacy and the Continuing Vitality of Islam in Republican Turkey," in Cyriac K. Pullapilly, ed., Islam in the Contemporary World (Notre Dame, Indiana: Cross Roads Press, 1980).
8. Unless otherwise indicated, the following account of the secularist socialization of Turks draws mostly upon earlier studies by Metin Heper, such as "Islam, Polity and Society in Turkey: A Middle Eastern Perspective," The Middle East Journal 35, no. 3 (Summer 1981), pp. 350-58. See also Howard A. Reed, "Atatürk's Secularizing Legacy and the Continuing Vitality of Islam in Republican Turkey," in Cyriac K. Pullapilly, ed., Islam in the Contemporary World (Notre Dame, Indiana: Cross Roads Press, 1980).
9. Şerif Mardin, Din ve Ideoloji (Religion and Ideology) (Ankara: Sevinç Matbaasi, 1969), p. 132.
10. Frederick Frey, "Socialization to National Identification Among Turkish Peasants," Journal of Politics 30, no. 4 (1968), pp. 963-65.
11. Reported in Milliyet (Istanbul), 2 February 1994.
12. Peter Suzuki, "Encounters with Istanbul: Urban Peasants and Village Peasants," International Journal of Comparative Sociology 5, no. 2 (1964), p. 213.
13. Ned Levine, "Value Orientations among Migrants in Ankara, Turkey: Case Study," Journal of Asian and African Studies 8, nos. 1-2 (1973), p. 58.
14. liter Turan, "Religion and Political Culture in Turkey," in Richard Tapper, ed., Islam in Modern Turkey (London: I.E. Tauris, 1991), p. 55.
15. New York Times, 16 January 1996.
16. The Economist, 17 February 1996.
17. Ruşen Çakir. Ne Şeriat Ne Demokrasi: Refah Partisini Anlamak (Neither Shari'a Nor Democracy: To Understand the Prosperity Party) (Istanbul: Metiş, 1994), pp. 127-28.
18. Mümtaz'er Türköne, Modernleşme, Laiklik ve Demokrasi (Modernization, Secularism and Democracy) (Ankara: Ark, 1994), pp. 3-4.
19. Ali Yaşar Saribay, Postmodernite, Sivil Toplum ve Islam (Postmodernity, Civil Society and Islam) (Istanbul: Iletişim, 1994), p. 207.
20. Reported in Nokta (Istanbul), 26 June - 2 July 1994.
21. Mehmet Yaşar Geyikdag, Political Parties in Turkey: The Role of Islam (New York: Praeger, 1984), p. 119.
22. See Henri Barkey, "Turkey, Islamic Politics, and the Kurdish Question," World Policy Journal 13, no. 1 (Spring 1996), p. 45.
23. Ali Bayramoglu, "Tahlillere Dikkat," (It is Necessary to be Careful about the Analyses Offered), Yeni Yüzyil (Istanbul), 4 January 1996.
24. After the 1994 local elections, the RP controlled 28 provincial-level municipalities, eight of which were large metropolitan municipalities, including those of Istanbul and Ankara.
25. Çakir, Ne Şeriat Ne Demokrasi, p. 185.
26. Interview with Professor Ersin Kalaycioglu, in Cumhuriyet (Istanbul), 8 November 1994. Also see, Barkey, "Turkey, Islamic Politics, and the Kurdish Question," p. 45.
27. Interview with Professor Ersin Kalaycioglu, in Cumhuriyet (Istanbul), 8 November 1994. Also see, Barkey, "Turkey, Islamic Politics, and the Kurdish Question," p. 45.
28. The numbers of publishers, radio stations, and television channels are as of January 1995. See Milliyet, 6 January 1995.
29. Sencer Ayata, "Patronage, Party and the State: The Politicization of Islam in Turkey," The Middle East Journal 50, no. 1 (Winter 1996), p. 52.
30. Jeremy Salt, "Nationalism and the Rise of Muslim Sentiment in Turkey," Middle Eastern Studies 31, no. 1 (1995), pp. 13-25.
31. Çakir, Ne Şeriat Ne Demokrasi, p. 120.
32. Erbakan is not popular with the electorate, as a 1994 poll revealed: only one percent of the party's voters voted for the party because of Erbakan. See, inter alia. Nokta, 22-28 May 1994.
33. Tempo (Istanbul), 18 January 1995.
34. The NSP was established in October 1972 by Erbakan after his NOP was outlawed in May 1971 because it was an Islamist party. The NSP was shut down by the military in October 1981.
35. Ali Yaşar Saribay, Türkiye' de Modernleşme, Din ve Parti Politikasi: Milli Selamet Partisi Örnek Olayi (Modernity, Religion and Party Policy in Turkey: The Case of the National Salvation Party) (Istanbul: Alan Yayincilik, 1985). p. 190.
36. Hürriyet (Istanbul), 8 January 1995. Author's translation.
37. Oktay Ekşi, "Erbakan Budur," (This is Erbakan), Hürriyet, 21 July 1995.
38. Tempo, 18 January 1995. Author's translation.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. Yeni Yüzyil, 8 January 1991. Author's translation.
43. Çakir, Ne Şeriat Ne Demokrasi, p. 124.
44. Saribay, Türkiye'de Modernteşme, Din ve Parti Politikasi, p. 11.
45. Çakir, Ne Şeriat Ne Demokrasi, pp. 127-30.
46. Ibid.
47. Lewis, "Modern Turkey Revisited," p. 15.
48. Ayata, "Patronage, Party, and the State: The Politicization of Islam in Turkey," p. 45.
49. Rujen Çakir, Ayet ve Slogan (Verse and Ideology) (Istanbul: Metiş Yayinlari, 1990), p. 23.
50. Ibid.
51. Şahin Alpay, "Görünmeyen Üniversite," (Unseen University), Milliyet, 11 November 1993. In Islam, jihad is also waged against the apostate.
52. Saribay, Postmodernite, Sivil Toplum ve Islam, p. 66.
53. Şerif Mardin. "The Nakşibendi Order in Turkish History," in Tapper, ed., Islam in Modern Turkey, p. 134.
54. Çakir, Ayet ve Slogan, p. 78.
55. Ibid., pp. 82-83.
56. Şerif Mardin, Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey: The Case of Bediuzzaman Saidi Nursi (Albany: State University of New York, 1989).
57. Paul Dumont, "Islam as a Factor of Change and Revival in Modern Turkey," in Sabri Akural, ed., Turkic Culture: Continuity and Change (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Turkish Studies 6, 1987), pp. 8-9.
58. Çakir, Ayet ve Slogan, pp. 92, 94.
59. The following account of Gülen's views on different topics draws upon two extensive interviews published in Hürrivet, 23-28 January 1995, and Sabah, 23-30 January 1995. Author's translation.
60. The following account of Gülen's views on different topics draws upon two extensive interviews published in Hürrivet, 23-28 January 1995, and Sabah, 23-30 January 1995. Author's translation.
61. Ibid.
62. Ibid.
63. Michael E. Meeker, "The New Muslim Intellectuals in the Republic of Turkey," in Tapper, ed., Islam in Modern Turkey, pp. 190-92; and Binnaz Toprak, "Islamist Intellectuals: Revolt Against Industry and Technology," in Metin Heper, Ayşe Öncü, and Heinz Kramer, eds., Turkey and the West: Changing Political and Cultural Identities (London: I.E. Tauris, 1993), p. 244.
64. Michael E. Meeker, "The New Muslim Intellectuals in the Republic of Turkey," in Tapper, ed., Islam in Modern Turkey, pp. 190-92; and Binnaz Toprak, "Islamist Intellectuals: Revolt Against Industry and Technology," in Metin Heper, Ayşe Öncü, and Heinz Kramer, eds., Turkey and the West: Changing Political and Cultural Identities (London: I.E. Tauris, 1993), p. 244.
65. Nilüfer Gole, Modern Mahrem: Medeniyet ve Ortünme (Forbidden Modern: Civilization and Veil) (Istanbul: Metiş, 1991), p. 108.
66. Meeker, "The New Muslim Intellectuals in the Republic of Turkey," p. 189; and Toprak, "Islamist Intellectuals," p. 244.
67. Meeker, "The New Muslim Intellectuals in the Republic of Turkey," p. 189; and Toprak, "Islamist Intellectuals," p. 244.
68. Reported in Nokia, 22-28 August 1993.
69. Ali Bulaç, Islam ve Demokrasi - Teokrasi, Totaliterizm (Islam and Democracy - Theocracy, Totalitarianism) (Istanbul: Beyan, 1993), p. 11.
70. It is not clear from the text whether Bulaç is referring to a particular period in time or to the Catholic clergy today.
71. Bulaç, Islam ve Demokrasi, pp. 96-97, 106-107, 109, 138. 164, 165.
72. The interview with Bulaç reported in Aktüel (Istanbul). 3 March 1994.
73. Toprak, "Islamist Intellectuals," p. 249.
74. Ibid.
75. Meeker, "The New Muslim Intellectuals in the Republic of Turkey," p. 207.
76. Rasim Özdenören, Yeniden Inanmak (Believing Again) (Istanbul: Nehir, 1986), p. 120.
77. Ibid., p, 53.
78. Ibid., p. 72.
79. Ismet Özel, Üç Mesele: Teknik, Medeniyet, Yabancilaşma (The Problem: Technique, Civilization and Alienation) (Istanbul: Düşünce, 1978), pp. 6-17.
80. Ibid., p. 48.
81. Ismet Özel, Waldo Sen Neden Burada Degilsin? (Waldo, Why Are You Not Here?) (Istanbul: Risale, 1988), p. 32.
82. Hürriyet, 25 December 1995. Author's translation.
83. Hürriyet, 4 April 1994. Author's translation. Needless to say, Erbakan's occasional forays into militancy cannot be attributed only to the radical secularists' provocative attitudes toward Islam in general and the RP in particular. Erbakan has a tendency sometimes to make outrageous remarks to satisfy the orthodox within the party and among the party's supporters.
84. Çakir, Ayet ve Slogan, P. 290.
85. Türköne, Modernleşme, Laiklik ve Demokrasi, p. 9.
86. Çakir, Ayet ve Slogan, p. 157. The Alevi minority in Turkey have opted for a secular regime as a means to guarantee their security against any Sunni repression against them.
87. Sabah, 27 December 1995; Yeni Yüzvil, 6 January 1996.
88. Sabah, 27 December 1995; Yeni Yüzvil, 6 January 1996.
89. Ibid.
90. Yeni Yüzyil, 3 July 1996.
91. Ibid.
92. Reported in Nokta, 26 June -2 July 1994.
93. Bernard Lewis, "Modern Turkey Revisited," p. 11.