turkey and the islamic identity

Turkey and the Islamic IdentityBirol A. YeiladaMark O. Hatfield School of GovernmentPortland State UniversityMarch 2004

THE REPUBLICTurkish republic established in 1923 by M. Kemal Ataturk after the War of Independence that followed WW I. The Treaty of Lausanne (July 1923) signed between the Ankara government and the Allies. Since 1946, it has a multi-party representative democracy that has experienced two military coups and two military interventions. It has a parliamentary system of government.Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe and all other European intergovernmental organizations, associate member of the European Union (and a candidate for accession), NATO, and the UN.Turkey has 65 million citizens of mixed ethnic background reflecting the heterogeneous makeup of the Ottoman Empire. Identity issues continue to be a major topic among Turkish citizens.

Background (cont.)Reforms of Ataturk include:Abolished Sultanate (1922)Abolished Caliphate (1924)Secular education (1924)Language (1927-35)Dress (1925)Civil code (1924-26)Alphabet (1925)Significance of laicismSignificance of etatism and republicanism

Islamic Identity in TurkeyOne must distinguish between religiosity and fundamentalism.Most Turks belong to the Hanefi school of Sunni Islam. There is a large presence of Alevi Turks who are close to Shia Islam. Other minorities include Arabs and Kurds (mostly Sunni Muslims), Christians (Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks), and Jews.

Islam in Turkish LifeMost Turks follow some form of institutionalized Islam ranging from daily mosque attendance to attending the Friday prayers to observing prayers during religious holidays.There are those who do not follow formal religious practices and consider themselves strict laicists.

Islam in TurkeyTurks have always interpreted Islam in their own way:Mixing their Asian cultural norms with those peoples they ruled during the Ottoman Empire.Religious tolerance was at the heart of Ottoman rule. This resulted in the Millet (Nation) system of administration.Strict & conservative interpretation of Islam emerged during the 19th century as pan-Islamism became a political force aimed at redefining the Empire in the face of Balkan uprisings.Quickly, this movement split into pan-Islamist and pan-Turkic political ideologies.

Islam in Turkish lifeReligious orders, known as tarikat, provide organizational networks for followers of different congregations.While most of these are sufi orders, some are quite active in political life and aspire to change the constitutional order of Turkey.The goal s to replace the laicist system with an Islamic state.

Peoples attitudesMost Turks (~80 percent) state that they would like to have more adherence to Islamic norms in their daily lives.20 percent state that they would like to see Islam be a source of law in State affairs.Only 3 5 percent,however, state that they want Sharia (Islamic Cannon Law) be the law of the land.Even among the supporters of the religious parties, AKP and SP, 61 and 45 percent respectively reject Sharia law.

Recent opinion poll on headscarfMore than 80 percent of the people believe that the headscarf issue is over played by the State. Asked where it should be permitted to be worn:

95 percent approved it during shopping, etc90 percent while receiving medical assistance in the hospitals90 percent in public offices81 percent while in court80 percent during visits to the Parliament71 percent as university students70 percent when providing medical assistance in hospitals68 percent for civil servants67 percent for university faculty and staff65 percent for judges64 percent for the members of the Parliament

National Election Results in Turkey, 1987-2002

Sheet1

Political PartyOrientation19871991*199519992002

% votesSeats% votesseats% votesSeats% votesseats%votesseats

Motherland (ANAP)moderate right36.329223.311519.613113.2865.120

True Path (DYP)moderate right19.15926.217819.213512859.550

Republican Peoples (RPP)moderate left24.89920.18810.7508.8019.4178

Democratic Left (DSP)moderate left8.5010.4714.676221361.230

Welfare/Virtue (R/FP)Islamic right8.4016.46221.315815.4107

Justice and Development (AKP)Moderate Islamist34.26363

Felicity (Saadet) PartyIslamist right2.490

Nationalist Movement (MHP)nationalist2.90NA8.10181298.340

Kurdish nationalist (HADEP/DEHAP)KurdishNA0NA04.104.706.230

Others003.602.405.9612.380

Independents19

Vacant0000000100

Total100450100450100550100550100550

*Welfare and MHP joined together for these elections

Parliamentary Group

Moderate Right55.436149.529338.826625.2173

Moderate Left33.39931.69525.312630.9136

Radical Right11.4016.96229.615833.8241

Islamic Fundamentalist8.521.315815.4111

Nationalist2.98.3018.4129

1

Sheet2

Sheet3

Voter Realignment: The Left-Right Spectrum

Chart3

000

558

335

1075

744

402826

1075

988

61110

346

82023

1990

1995

1999

percentvotes

Figure 1 Ideological Spectrum

8816

17118

402826

191512

173538

1990

1995

1999

%

Ideological Scale of the Turkish Voter

Chart2

255026

193543

223147

left (1-4)

center (5-6)

right (7-10)

%

Party Votes

31.65116.9

25.338.829.6

30.925.234.8

SHP/CHP+DSP

ANAP+DYP

RP/FP+MHP+BBP

% votes

Sheet1

199019951999

far left8816

center left17118

center402826

center right191512

far right173538

199019971999

left (1-4)251922

center (5-6)503531

right (7-10)264347

10197100

199119951999

SHP/CHP+DSP31.625.330.9

ANAP+DYP5138.825.2

RP/FP+MHP+BBP16.929.634.8

99.593.790.9

Sheet2

199019951999

far left000

1558

2335

31075

4744

center402826

61075

7988

861110

9346

far right82023

Sheet3

Sheet3

000

558

335

1075

744

402826

1075

988

61110

346

82023

1990

1995

1999

percentvotes

After the 2002 National Elections

Chart1

365

177

2

6

Seats in the National Assembly (March 9, 2003)

Chart3

36566.36

17732.18

20.36

61.09

#seats

%total seats

# seats & % total seats

Distribution of Seats in the National Assembly (March 9, 2003)

Sheet1

PartySeats% seats

AKP36566.36

CHP17732.18

DYP20.36

Indep61.09

Total550100

Sheet2

Sheet3

Chart1

365

177

2

6

Seats in the National Assembly (March 9, 2003)

Chart3

36566.36

17732.18

20.36

61.09

#seats

%total seats

# seats & % total seats

Distribution of Seats in the National Assembly (March 9, 2003)

Sheet1

PartySeats% seats

AKP36566.36

CHP17732.18

DYP20.36

Indep61.09

Total550100

Sheet2

Sheet3

Rise of Islamist GroupsSince the establishment of the Republic, the laicist order of the new state has been challenged by a variety of religious orders and political forces.Turkish-Islamic Synthesis v. Islamic-Turkish Synthesis.1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and now.

The rise of Political IslamThe Islamic Democracy Party (slam Demokrasi Partisi--IDP) was the first Islamist political party to enter into politics during the multi-party period in 1951.

It is true that the center-right Democratic Party (Demokrat PartiDP) under Celal Bayar and Adnan Menderes attracted the support of the Islamist voters with policy decisions that reversed some of the Kemalists bans on Islamic practices like the call for prayer in Turkish and the ban on Koran schools.

In the ensuing years, those who played important roles in the establishment of other religious political parties made use of similar phrases of religious importance:During the 1960s, the Justice Party (Adalet Partisi-AP) came to represent the "home" of the democratic Islamists in Turkey. Sheikh Mehmet Zahit Kotku who was a leading figure of the Nakibendi order (tarikat) and head of the related skender Paa congregation (dergah). At Kotkus encouragement, Necmettin Erbakan entered political life. He became the founding chairman of Milli Nizam partisi, Milli Selamet partisi, Refah Partisi, Fazilet partisi, and was the main figure behind the Selamet Partisi.He also established the Milli Gorus (National Vision) organization.

The informal party organization was extensive; it relied on a tightly controlled network of activists and volunteers:The party maintained a divan (council) in every district, comprised of 50 regular and 50 alternate members. In addition, there were neighborhood representatives who maintained an information database on everyone living in that area, including each family unit. There was also a network of headmasters and teachers (hatipler ve retmenler), who engaged people in discussion at the local coffee houses and other gathering places. Another informal network came from the Koran courses and the Preacher and Prayer Leader Schools (mam Hatip Okullar). Finally, these parties drew strong support from some of the religious orders.

Relations Between Tarikats and Islamist Political Parties Traditionally, tarikats, which Atatrk shut down and were later reopened when the Democratic Party was in government, supported the center- right parties, seeing them as security against the secular state.Among these tar