Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

2The EnduringOttoman LegacyIn order to understand the origin and evolution of contemporaryTurkish Islamic movements and their relationship with the KemalistRepublic, it is necessary to understand the formative impact of theOttoman state tradition. This continuity of the state traditioncontinued through the Kemalist period, as the Republican regimeconsciously aggregated political and economic power in order tocreate a rationalized homogenous nation-state. Societal groups,however, reacted strongly against the Republican elite’s policies offorced homogenization and the displacement of Ottoman-Islamicinstitutions and traditions. This overt hostility was repressed duringthe early years of the Republic but surfaced after a multipartypolitical system tentatively was instituted in 1945–1946. In the caseof Turkey, democratization and liberalization have brought Islamicand Ottoman traditions and idioms closer to the center of politics.The relationship between democratization and Islamic movements isnot causal but rather constitutive. A diVuse Islamic political andcultural identity served as a focal point around which populardiscontent with the authoritarian policies of the ruling RepublicanPeople’s Party (CHP: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) rallied.The issue examined in this chapter is why an Islamic identity—rather than one focused on nationality, ethnicity, or class—developedas the primary outlet through which the population chose to vent itsfrustrations with the Kemalist Republican elite. It should be notedthat an Islamic-oriented identity, although existing prior to thefoundation of the Republican state’s radical homogenizing reforms,lay dormant in Turkey for some time. Once “awakened,” it had to bereimagined or rearticulated to meet drastically changed circumstances.Moreover, because this reaction and rearticulation took