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Türkiye’de Siyasal Katılım, Tek Partiden AK Parti’ye Siyasal İslam ve Demokrasi Tartışmaları

There are many institutions playing a role in weaving the ideals of democracy into Turkey’s social fabric. Many political actors in Turkish politics, which include the leftists, rightists, liberals, and statists along with those who established the Republic with their military identity, all contributed to society’s participation in the execution of the state affairs.

 

There are many institutions playing a role in weaving the ideals of democracy into Turkey’s social fabric. Many political actors in Turkish politics, which include the leftists, rightists, liberals, and statists along with those who established the Republic with their military identity, all contributed to society’s participation in the execution of the state affairs. They all had a stake in implementing universal democratic standards in Turkey in general, and within certain strata of Turkish society in particular. The reasons behind these actors’ support for democratic ideals vary; some groups were motivated by purely conjectural reasons, some wore the cloak of democracy as a survival strategy, and many were sincere in their political commitment. However, none of these actors and institutions could ensure society’s participation to the degree that the political establishment, who regards democracy as a sine qua non of its existence, has done. A democratic structure best fosters the type of political competition vital for the survival of Turkey’s diverse political groups and politicians. Of particular interest is the political Islamists, more than any other political group in Turkey, who have significantly contributed to and espoused democracy in Turkey. Generally, Islam is portrayed as incompatible with democracy and even as a primary enemy against democratic principles by mass media channels, which are often under the influence of an Orientalist perspective.

Looking at Turkey’s experience, Islam has had an immense impact on all sectors of society in Turkey. Islam can be a way of life, an eschatology, or a subject of folklore and culture. Consciously or not, all segments of Turkey’s social fabric, from the believer to the atheist, have had to confront Islam in one way or another. The reason why the Republic’s most vehement advocates of Westernization saw Islam as an obstacle on the way to Turkey’s progress and advancement and held radical secular views regarding Islam is because they have never been able to exclude religion from society and politics. This is true even at times when the most rigid secular political actors were in power. It is precisely because Islam has always played a role in politics in Turkey that it can now assume a major role in introducing democracy to Turkish society. Moreover, it can also play a role in persuading different religious segments of the society to accept democracy. Here, democracy can be perceived as a solution to many of Turkey’s current problems, ranging from poverty to social injustices Movements, such as the Progressive Republican Party (Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası), Free Republican Party (Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası), and Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti), have been instrumental in the consolidation of democracy as opposed to the authoritarian political system, which predominated the single party era of the Republic.

Groups traditionally at the periphery of Turkey’s mainstream political system have found an opportunity to participate in the process of governance through conservative political parties like DP and the Justice Party (Adalet Partisi) Islamist movements like the National Order Party (Milli Nizam Partisi), the National Salvation Party (Milli Selamat Partisi) the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) and finally the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), which merged these two ideologies. Although discussions on the relationship between Islam and democracy currently seem to have resurfaced it should be noted that this debate intensified greatly in the aftermath of February 28, 1997. Evidently, with the political success of the Justice and Development Party’s synthesis, the question of the compatibility of Islam with democracy is no longer being debated.

Given that no democracy could survive without strong public participation, democracy in Turkey can only be possible with the involvement of the masses. For this reason, conservatives, religious people, Islamists, and political movements emphasizing Islam’s socio-political dimension have contributed to expanding societal representation by ensuring a broader participation in the country’s administration. This success cannot be attributed to the Republican doctrine of a ‘classless, unprivileged, and coherent nation,’ as it fails to explain why the same success could not be achieved in incorporating fully the Kurdish ethnic movement into the political system.

Concentrating mainly on traditions of “National Vision” (Milli Görüş), the study, ‘socialization of democracy in Turkey and the role of political Islam,’ proposes that political Islam should be taken seriously as a ‘political opportunity’ for Turkey. It argues that the understanding of democracy in Turkey has come a long way through the interaction of democracy with political Islam. This work also demonstrates that Turkey would prove its maturity by reducing the power and influence of the bureaucracy. The first chapter, Political Islam and Democracy, places the focus on the legitimization of Democratic Islam and the relationship between democracy and the ‘National Vision’ Movement. The second chapter, The Throes of Democratization in Turkish Political Life, investigates the democratization process from the Progressive Republican Party known as ‘Junction of Leaders’ through Free Republican Party up to the Democratic Party. In the third chapter, the author discusses the issue of socialization of democracy in Turkey by covering political movements, such as National Vision Movement, National Order Party, the National Salvation Party, the Welfare Party which the author describes as ‘Reluctant Democrat Coming from the Periphery.’ Drawing attention to the similarities between Turkey’s previous mass parties and the Justice and Development Party, the last chapter presents this Party as a ‘political opportunity’ in terms of Turkey’s democratization. It argues that Turkey is going through a kind of systematic integration process in the form of an Islam-Democracy marriage.


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