Binnaz Toprak

... Although the beginnings of secularization go as far back as the 18th century, it was after 1923 that the historical con-nection between Islam and the state was broken off. In line with a long history of Westernization attempts, the secularization program of Mustafa Kemal aimed at ...

Le poids du mouvement islamique turc semble être de plus en plus important depuis le début des années 80 bien que le régime militaire en place, de 1980 à 1983, ait mis fin avec succès à la puissante organisation des partis d’extrême droite et d’extrême gauche : tel est le paradoxe que vise à expliquer cet article. La législation en vigueur durant cette période, y compris la Constitution de 1982, visait à restreindre toute activité politique et à renforcer le contrôle de l’Etat sur les syndica..

Bu arastirma, kadinlarin is yasami, ust yonetim ve siyasete katilmasi hakkindaki tutum ve beklentileri ortaya koymak amaciyla, Turkiye toplumunu temsil niteligine sahip bir orneklem cercevesinde Haziran-Temmuz 2003 tarihleri arasinda 1557 Kadin ve 993 erkekle yuzyuze gerceklestirilmis bir anket calismasina dayanmaktadir.

In Turkey, Japan has often been perceived as an industrial country that developed economically while keeping to its traditions. This perception has been especially strong among Islamists and conservatives who have been critical of the process of Westernization since the nineteenth century. In their view, Turkey understood modernity as imitation of Western culture but failed to industrialize. Japan, on the other hand, proved that it was possible to modernize while preserving one's tradition, religion, and culture. Hence, according to this analysis, Japan's successful transition from agrarian to industrial society was in stark contrast to the Turkish course of modernization.

TURKEY Between Islam and the State: The Politics of Engagement, by Berna Turam. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007. xi + 164 pages. Notes to p. 200. Bibl. to p. 216. Index to p. 223. $21.95 paper. Reviewed by Binnaz Toprak Berna Turam's book is one of the best to have been published recently on the interaction between Islam and the secular state in Turkey. Although Turam, in her conclusion, does discuss the wider context of democratization in the Middle East, her study stands as an excellent analysis of what one might call "Turkish exceptionalism." As such, it is must reading for anyone who wishes to understand contemporary Turkey and the implications of the Turkish experience for omer Muslim-majority countries. Between Islam and the State is an ethnographic study that takes up the Gulen movement and the Justice and Development Party (JDP) to illustrate an emerging new style that is superseding the historically conflictual relationship between Islam and the secular state. Being careful not to take sides in the long-standing conflict between the "Islamists" and the "laicists" in Turkey, Turam brilliantly demonstrates how Islamic actors contest, negotiate, or cooperate with the state in "everyday encounters" that, in turn, have radically transformed both Islamism and the official state ideology of Kemalism. She argues that this new style, which she calls "the politics of engagement," has not only opened up space for moderate Islamists to integrate into the system, thus preventing the radicalization of me movement, but also has helped further the process of democratization in Turkey. She is careful to point out, as anyone familiar with Turkey should, that the emerging modus vivendi is partial. Witness, for example, the reemergence of conflictual politics regarding the issue of the 2007 presidential election, which has led major newspapers in the West to talk about "two Turkeys." Turam is also careful to point out mat the seeming commitment to liberal democracy of the Giilen movement and the JDP should be approached with caution, as it is unclear whether either has a deep understanding of individual freedoms. During her research of the Giilen movement, for example, what struck her most was the movement's "public sites of display" versus the private realm. Whereas the movement portrays its public image in its discourses as toleration, pluralism, and gender equality and does indeed organize mixed-gender meetings, the women in these public sites are mostly "outsiders" whereas insider women are given, and have internalized, the "duty as housewives and mothers" and engage only in activities that are removed from power positions. …

... As the NSP saw it, Turkey's lag in development could be traced back to the educational philosophy adopted by Turkish governments. ... Such warped objectives had produced aneducational system which failed miserably to encourage creativity. ...

Europe is the only continent to have been wholly Christianized. The Gospels began to be preached in the second century, they reached the former territories of the Roman Empire in the sixth century, and the rest of Europe was converted during the ninth and tenth centuries. Nevertheless, after an initial period of unity, the history of the continent was marked by a number of splits, starting with the schism between the Western and Orthodox churches in the eleventh century, followed by the Muslim conquest of the Balkans in the fifteenth century and the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The impact of these ruptures was still being felt across Europe centuries later, notably in the conflicts which have punctuated Irish history since the beginning of the last century, as well as the wars in Eastern Europe and Bosnia and Herzegovina which followed the disintegration of the communist bloc. In other words, far from being a unifying force, Europe’s religious baggage has been a constant source of divisiveness, manifesting itself not only in tension between nations, but also in relations between Church and State, and in the attitudes and behavior of various European populations. From this point of view, France occupies a particular place. France’s revolution—the first great revolution of the eighteenth century—led to the substantial modification of the alliance between the Catholic Church and the State, and provided a model of the secularization of politics which was subsequently adopted in other countries.

Abstract This essay discusses the relationship between Islam, politics and democracy in the Turkish context. Its main theme is that although, in the author's view, liberal democracy is incompatible with a Muslim state that bases its legitimacy on Islamic law, a Muslim‐ ...

... Yayına Hazırlayan: Derya Demirler Kitap Tasar›m›: Rauf Kösemen, Myra Kapak Tasarım: Bora Tekoğul Bas›ma Haz›rlayan: Myra Basım ... Necmettin Erbakan önderliğinde 1970 yılında kurulan ancak bir yıl sonra Anayasa Mahkemesi'nce kapatılan Milli Nizam Partisi'nden (MNP ...

... Derya Demirler TESEV Democratization Program August, 2007 Foreword to the English Edition Page 11. 10 Page 12. ... Page 19. The Milli Görüş movement emerged with the establishment of the Milli Nizam Partisi in the 1970s, under the leadership of Necmettin Erbakan. ...