Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

the neo-nur movement of fethullah gülen 183presented as the violation of article 163, which criminalizes “unwanted” religiousexpression and association; Gülen spent seven months in jail before being acquitted.8 Subsequently Gülen avoided direct involvement in political activities,concentrating instead on establishing educational institutions, such as the Foundationfor Turkish Teachers (Türkiye Ö;retmenler Vakfì) in 1976 and the Foundationof Middle and Higher Education in Akyazì (Akyazìlì Orta ve Yüksek E;itimVakfì). The major leap of Gülen’s movement was the publication of Sìzìntìmagazine in 1979, which always includes a lead article by Gülen and a numberof other essays on science, religion and history. 9 The goal was to give a Muslimorientation to a new generation of Turks to help them to cope with, beneWt from,and if necessary resist the processes of modernity. In this period, Gülen remainedvery skeptical of political activism and critized Nurcu intellectuals, who wereconcentrated around the daily Yeni Asya, for their deep engagement in politics. 10The second phase witnessed the expansion of the public sphere and a looseningof the boundaries of the religious community (1983–1997). Due to a morestable and religion-friendly political environment in the early 1980s, the Gülenmovement put its vision of creating a “golden generation” into practice by utilizingnew political, legal, and economic opportunity spaces. 11 Gülen developedclose ties with Özal, then prime minister, and worked closely with him to transformthe sociocultural landscape of Turkey. The political opening of the systemin the 1980s enabled the people around Gülen to put locally constructed “trust”into use and to form one of the most inXuential movements of Turkey. After1983, Gülen emerged as one of the dominant Wgures on the Turkish Islamicscene. The movement developed close ties with state institutions and becameinvolved in economic, cultural, and media activities. The entry into social, educational,media, and economic Welds also transformed the movement itself. Themovement stressed the signiWcance of the media and market economy and triedto become more professional by establishing new foundations, broadcastingcompanies, publishing presses, and cultural foundations.After 1983, the most important change took place in the Weld of education.The privatization of the education system opened it up to competition, and themovement capitalized on the need and desire to establish a better educationsystem. This was also the period of preparation for a more activist and assertivemovement. Gülen’s religious lectures of April 1986, known as vaaz, were aturning point in terms of his utilization of the national religious networks tocarve a space for himself. Then prime minister Özal played an important rolein getting the 1980 coup ban on Gülen’s public preaching lifted because hewanted to beneWt from the ideas and activities of Gülen against extremist Islamistgroups. Gülen was expected to become the “Muslim preacher of liberalism,”and he never hesitated to meet that expectation since it also coincided withhis own goals. Gülen’s lecture in Valide Sultan mosque in Istanbul on May 6,1989, focused on the ethical aspect of Islam and aimed to meet the religiousand ethical needs of the middle classes and the new bourgeoisie. He avoidedcontroversial issues and developed an inclusive language, urging people to participatein the economy, media, and cultural activities to create a new and conWdentTurkey. His emotional preaching style stirs up the inner feelings of Muslims