From the ashes of virtue, a promise of light: the transformation of political Islam in Turkey

Abstract

The November 2002 general elections in Turkey transformed Turkish politics by bringing a new political party to power with almost two-thirds of the seats in parliament. The now dominant Justice and Development Party (akp) emerged from a tradition of Islamically orientated political parties that have challenged the religious policies of the Turkish state. Previous Islamically orientated parties in Turkey were successively banned from politics, but re-emerged after a period in which they reframed their message in response to their perceived opportunities and constraints. The new Justice and Development Party has gone a step further than its predecessors, dramatically highlighting a process of institutional change and ideological moderation that has occurred in Turkish political Islam. The increasing moderation of the Islamist movement is the result of several institutional factors. First, the movement has been given the freedom to make strategic choices in a political system that rewards political entrepreneurship with credible opportunities for power. Second, the state and elements of civil society have imposed public institutional constraints on the movement's behaviour. Third, iterated interaction between Islamist leaders, their constituency and the state have provided the movement with increased information about its potential appeal and strategic options over time.

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