Secularisation and Muslim Democracy in Turkey

摘要

Perhaps in no country is the debate on secularism and public religion as recurrent or contested as it is in Turkey. The rise to power, in 2002, of R. Tayip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP), a centre-right movement frequently suspected of having Islamicist origins, was considered a surprise at the time. The AKP's subsequent consolidation of power through careful political manoeuvring, creation of opportunity spaces and curtailment of military and judiciary power have not only allowed the AKP to survive in Turkey's traditionally volatile political arena, but in so doing has also come to signify the emergence of a new political phenomenon.