While the financial world is still dominated by conventional banks, based on western economic principles, the number of Islamic banks is on the rise. Islamic banks have originated from colonial India as a response of the Muslims to the British who attempted to westernize their society. Other similar financial operations based on Islamic Law (Shari'a) were established in Pakistan, Malaysia and Egypt to facilitate access of rural poor to interest-free loans. However, being unprofitable, these operations did not survive for very long. Islamic banks, unlike conventional banks, are not based on interest and conduct their business in accordance with a wide array of ethical and moral issues. The modern phase of Islamic banking started in the 1970s when the Islamic Development Bank was founded in Saudi Arabia. Soon after, a number of commercial banks were established in the neighboring countries. From this core, over the last four decades, Islamic finance and banking has spread across the entire Muslim world and beyond to become a global phenomenon. This study examines the development of Islamic banking in Turkey in the wider context of global expansion. Turkey is an interesting case study because, although its population is nearly 100% Muslim, it is a secular state built on the model of Western European countries. However, lately, the moderate Islamic party in power since 2002 has shown some signs of openness towards a parallel banking system based on Islamic principles.
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