Observations of Turkish Islamist
Politics:
Islamic Democrats or Enemies of
Turkish Secularism?
by CDR Youssef Aboul-Enein,
MSC, USN
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Observations of Turkish Islamist Politics
Having just returned from Istanbul as part of the Industrial College of the
Armed Forces Industry Study Group, I was exposed to diverse opinions from
Turkey's media, political groups, and social advocates whose political
persuasion range from Kemalist and Leftist to Islamist. This essay takes this
week-long experience and attempts to make sense of where the Turkish Islamist
experiment has been and where it is going in the 21st century. This
thought piece is also timely given the recent attempts by Turkish Islamist
groups combined with Palestinian supporters attempting to run the Israeli
maritime blockade of Gaza using Turkish flagged ships.
Turkey is a key member of NATO and stands poised to undertake the first
successful experiment in Islamic democracy; it is a political vision abhorred by
al-Qaida, yet could serve as a model for Arab Islamist political groups like the
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Peace and Justice Party (AKP) is using the
democratic process to reorganize the social contract that has left two
institutions as dominant over the executive and legislative branches in Turkey.
Those two institutions are the military and the judiciary, whose senior
leadership view themselves as the protectors of the legacy of Turkey's founder
Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938). Yet Ataturk cannot be described as a secularist but
one who admires laicism, a form of secularism that leaves no room for religious
expression in public life. Laicism was inspired by the French Revolution and
views expressions of God or the divine on currenc or, in opening legislative
sessions as intolerable.
Download the full article:
Observations of Turkish Islamist Politics
Commander Aboul-Enein is author of
Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat, published this
summer by Naval Institute Press. He spent one week this spring in Turkey as
part of the Industry Study Program of the Industrial College of the Armed
Forces. Commander Aboul-Enein learned much during this trip and thanks the
college, and Colonel Deborah Buonassisi, USAF, for an amazing intellectual
experience. Finally, he wishes to thank Dr. Christina Lafferty for her edits
and discussions that enhanced this essay.