Democratic islamization in Pakistan and Turkey: Lessons for the post-Arab spring Muslim world

Middle East Journal

Volumn 66, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 273-289

  Pupcenoks, Juris ^a,b  

^a WASHINGTON COLLEGE   (United States)

^b MARIST COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARAB WORLD; COMPARATIVE STUDY; CONFLICT MANAGEMENT; DEMOCRACY; DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION; EDUCATION; ISLAMISM; SOCIAL POLICY;

PAKISTAN; TURKEY;

EID: 84868587928     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3751/66.2.14     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. Ronald Inglehart, "How Solid is Mass Support for Democracy - and How Do We Measure It?" Political Science and Politics, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2003), pp. 51-57.
2. For the purposes of this article, "Islamists" are people/parties that believes that, in addition to personal life, Islam should play a major role in the social and political affairs of a society.
3. Muqtedar M.A. Khan, ed., Islamic Democratic Discourse (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006).
4. This research primarily utilizes information found in Turkish, Pakistani, and other relevant news media sources, scholarly articles, and English translations of predominately Pakistani and Turkish news stories - available through the World News Connection database.
5. Shari'a, or Islamic law, consists of the Qur'an and the Sunna [traditions of the Prophet].
6. John Esposito and John Voll, Islam and Democracy (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
7. El Khaled Abou Fadl, ed., Islam and the Challenge of Democracy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004).
8. Muqtedar M.A. Khan, ed., Islamic Democratic Discourse.
9. Despite earlier-mentioned restrictions, in both cases, Islamists have encouraged foreign investment, and have not pursued certain Islamic reforms (such as legal attempts to codify interest-free banking) that could jeopardize international trade and commerce.
10. Jacob N. Shapiro and C. Christine Fair, "Understanding Support for Islamist Militancy in Pakistan," International Security, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Winter 2009/10), p. 82.
11. Rafiq Dossani and Henry S. Rowen, "Introduction," in Rafiq Dossani and Henry S. Rowen, eds., Prospects for Peace in South Asia (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005), p. 13.
12. In 2010, the North-Western Frontier Province was renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
13. Hussain Haqqani, "The Role of Islam in Pakistan's Future," The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Winter 2004-05), pp. 85-96, 91.
14. Zhanara Nauruzbayeva, "The Pakistani Elections and the Islamist Challenge," Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 1, 2002, http://www.carnegieendowment.org/events/index.cfm?fa=eventDetail&id=529&&proj=zdrl,zsa.
15. Not to be confused with Pakistani party PML-N.
16. Update Briefing, "Pakistan's Local Polls: Shoring Up Military Rule," International Crisis Group Website, November 22, 2002, p. 11, http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3799.
17. Joshua T. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier (Washington, DC: The Center on Faith and International Affairs at the Institute for Global Engagement, 2008), http://www.pakistanstudies-aips.org/resources/publications/docs/Islamist_Frontier_Full.pdf.
18. Syed Bukhhar Shah, "NWDP CM Bans Taverns, Gambling, Music in Buses," Islamabad The News [Pakistan], November 29, 2002.
19. "MMA's Briefing to Foreign Diplomats," Pakistan Daily [Pakistan], October 25, 2002.
20. "Government Warned of Resistance on Kashmir U-Turn," Islamabad the News [Pakistan], June 17, 2002.
21. Dishad Azeem, "Majalis not to Allow Troops to Iraq," The Nation [Pakistan], September 22, 2003.
22. "Government Warned of Resistance on Kashmir U-Turn."
23. Muzammil Suharwardy, "Majlis-i-Amal Sets Conditions of End to Operation Against Al-Qa'ida, Non deployment of Troops in Iraq and Non recognition of Israel, for Vote of Confidence," Islamabad Khabrain [Pakistan], December 10, 2003, p. 1.
24. Syed Bukhar Shah, "PPPP, JUI-F Join Hands against ANP, JI Alliance," Islamabad the News [Pakistan], August 27, 2005.
25. Nisar Mehdi, "Efforts to Keep MMA End in Fiasco," Nation [Pakistan], July 21, 2008, http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newsarticle-daily-english-online/Regional/Karachi/21-Jul-2008/Efforts-to-keep-MMA-end-in-fiasco.
26. "Talks Underway to Reactivate MMA: Fazi," DailyTimes [Pakistan], January 27, 2012, http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\01\27\story_27-1-2012_pg12_1.
27. This is discussed in more detail below.
28. Stephen Cohen, The Idea of Pakistan (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004), p. 188.
29. After attempting to bring about change to Pakistan's rape law for years, the Pakistani central legislature finally refused to give in to pressures from Islamists and approved changes to the law in late 2006. The old regulations required women to provide four witnesses in order to prosecute rape charges, which usually made prosecution of a rape case impossible. The amended law now allows judges to decide whether or not a rape case should be tried under jurisdiction of Islamic or civil court.
30. Adeel Khan, "Pakistan in 2006: Safe Center, Dangerous Peripheries," Asian Survey, Vol. 47, No. 1 (January/February 2007), pp. 128-129.
31. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier, pp. 58-59.
32. Anita Weiss, "The MMA, Gender Politics and Politicized Islam in Pakistan's Northwest: Implications of Conducting Local Research with Global Implications," article presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Chicago, IL, March 2, 2007.
33. "Shariat Bill Presented in NWFP Assembly," The News [Pakistan], May 28, 2003.
34. Madrasas in Pakistan are schools predominately providing Islamic education; they receive private and public funding (mostly through government grants).
35. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier, pp. 57-58.
36. Shah, "NWDP CM Bans Taverns, Gambling, Music in Buses".
37. Magnus Marsden, "Women, Politics and Islamism in Northern Pakistan," Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 42, No. 2/3 (2008), p. 406.
38. Michael Mathes, "AFP: Buoyed by Political Gains, Pakistan Islamists Push for Sharia Law," Hong Kong AFP, December 18, 2002.
39. Khalid Kheshgi, "Government Orders Musicians to Wind Up Business," The Nation [Pakistan], January 24, 2003.
40. "Pakistani Province Orders Cinema Houses to Shut Down During Ramadan," Hong Kong AFP in English, September 26, 2006, News section, Daily report.
41. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier, p. 54.
42. Aamer Ahmed Khan, "Pakistan's Islamists Focus on Women," BBC News, April 14, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4435471.stm.
43. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier, p. 60.
44. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier, p. 53.
45. "Pakistani Northwest Frontier Imposes Islamist Law," Spero News, November 15, 2006, http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=6577.
46. "Pakistani Northwest Frontier Imposes Islamist Law".
47. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier, p. 53.
48. White, Pakistan's Islamist Frontier, pp. 61-63.
49. Jayshree Bajoria, "Islam and Politics in Pakistan," Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder, May 5, 2011, http://www.cfr.org/pakistan/islam-politics-pakistan/p24728.
50. Zeeshan Haider, "Islamists Lead Pakistan Strike in Political Crisis," Reuters, December 31, 2010.
51. Human rights activists frequently denounce the unfairness of the Pakistani blasphemy laws. These laws allow offenders to be punished by death, and are at times used to prosecute religious minorities.
52. Bajoria, "Islam and Politics in Pakistan."
53. Hakan Yavuz, Islamic Political Identity in Turkey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 215.
54. Yavuz, Islamic Political Identity in Turkey.
55. Metin Yuksel, "Erdoĝan Adviser Compares AKP Favorably to SP in Survey," Istanbul Hurriyet [Turkey], August 10, 2003.
56. Voter annoyance with an ongoing feud between Turkish secular parties Democratic Left Party (DSP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) galvanized additional support for the AKP in the 2002 elections.
57. "Turkish Parliament Passes Six Articles in Second Round of Reform Debate," Hurriyet Daily News, May 4, 2010, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=akp-passes-six-articles-without-resistance-2010-05-04.
58. On the grounds that such laws are necessary for the Turkey's EU membership.
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60. Michael Rubin, "Erdogan, Ergenekon, and the Struggle for Turkey," Mideast Monitor, August 8, 2008, http://www.meforum.org/1968/erdogan-ergenekon-and-the-struggle-for-turkey.
61. Selcan Hacaoglu, "Turkish Military in New Power Play with Islamic-Rooted Government," International News [Turkey], October 2, 2006, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18861808_ITM.
62. Michael Rubin, "Mr. Erdoĝan's Turkey," The Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2006.
63. Zeno Baran, Turkey Between Secularism and Islamism (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 2010), Ch. 3.
64. Angel Rabasa and F. Stephen Larrabee, The Rise of Political Islam in Turkey (Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 2008), pp. 63-64.
65. Şule Kulu, "YÖK's Coefficient Decision Ends Decade-Long Feb. 28 Injustice," Today's Zaman, July 23, 2009, http://www.todayszaman.com/news-181732-yoks-coefficient-decision-endsdecade-long-feb-28-injustice.html.
66. For example, the following sentence was added to Article 42 of the Constitution dealing with Right and Duty of Training and Education, "No one can be deprived of the right to receive higher education for reasons not openly mentioned by laws."
67. Jonathan Head, "Quiet End to Turkey's College Headscarf Ban," BBC News, December 31, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11880622.
68. Hacaoglu, "Turkish Military in New Power Play with Islamic-Rooted Government."
69. Rubin, "Mr. Erdoĝan's Turkey."
70. Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), "The AKP Government's Attempt to Move Turkey from Secularism to Islamism: The Clash with Turkey's Universities," Special Dispatch Series No. 1014, November 1, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP101405.
71. Claire Berlinski, "In Turkey, a Looming Battle Over Islam," The Washington Post, May 6, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050402564_pf.html.
72. Rabasa and Larrabee, The Rise of Political Islam in Turkey, pp. 57-60.
73. Rubin, "Mr. Erdoĝan's Turkey."
74. Michael Rubin, "Green Money, Islamist Politics in Turkey," Middle East Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Winter 2005), http://www.meforum.org/article/684.
75. Mustafa Akyol, "How 'Islamist' is the AKP?," Hurriyet Daily News, December 3, 2010, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=how-8216islamist8217-is-theakp-2010-12-03.
76. Annette Grossbongardt, "Turkey in Transition: Less Europe, More Islam," Spiegel, November 2, 2006, http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,446163,00.html.
77. Hidir Goktas, "Turkey May Scrap Adultery Law," The Guardian, September 15, 2004.
78. Susan Sachs, "Turkey Approves Revision of Penal Code," The New York Times, September 26, 2004.
79. Akyol, "How 'Islamist' is the AKP?".
80. US Department of State, "2010 Human Rights Report: Turkey," http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eur/154455.htm.
81. MEMRI, "The AKP Government's Attempts to Move Turkey from Secularism to Islamist: Defying European Human Rights Court Decision on Headscarf Ban," Special Dispatch Series No. 1048, December 13, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP101405.
82. Jürgen Gottschlich, "The AKP's Disappointing Victory," Spiegel Online, June 13, 2011, http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,768175,00.html.
83. Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey.
84. Bassam Tibi, "Islamists Approach Europe," The Middle East Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Winter 2009), pp. 47-54.
85. Birol Yesilada and Barry Rubin, Islamization of Turkey under the AKP Rule (London and New York: Routledge, 2011).
86. The AKP has taken measures to restore Kurdish cultural rights; for example, since 2009 TV broadcasts and school lessons in Kurdish have been allowed. However, "when it comes to religion ... the AKP encourages the Kurdish population - many of whom are Alevi - to demonstrate solidarity with Turkey's Sunny majority;".
87. Zeno Baran, Torn Country: Turkey between Secularism and Islamism (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 2010), p. 99.
88. As the two case studies illustrate, it is also useful to distinguish between Islamization models among states, and Islamization models within states. The MMA was an alliance of six parties, and some of them, such as Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam, envisioned a much more restrictive conception of what "Islamization" entails - including imposition of strict Islamist punishment for grave crimes. A similar pattern is noticeable in Turkey, where there exists a significant ideological gap between the AKP and the more conservative Felicity Party. However, as the recent experience of the two states show, the Islamist groups that were able to gain the most support among the voters were moderates.
89. Omer Taspirar, "Turkey's General Dilemma," Foreign Affairs, August 8, 2011, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/68019/omer-taspinar/turkeys-general-dilemma.