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Durham E-Theses Islam and nationalism : a study of contemporary Islamic political thought in Turkey, 1980-1990. Lapidot, Anat How to cite: Lapidot, Anat (1995) Islam and nationalism : a study of contemporary Islamic political thought in Turkey, 1980-1990., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1158/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Islam and Nationalism: A Study of Contemporary Islamic Political Thought in Turkeyq 1980-1990 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ANAT LAPIDOT Submitted for a Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Politics, University of Durham 1995 1 SAU6 1996 ANAT LAPIDOT ISLAM AND NATIONALISM: A STUDY OF CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC POLITICAL THOUGHT IN TURKEY (1980-1990) SUBMITTED FOR Ph. D, 1995 This thesisaddresses the relationshipbetween Islam and nationalismin Turkey in the 1980's. It askswhether the nation-stateas a political order was acceptedby the ideologistsof the Turkish Islamic movement.The researchfocuses on the examination of three main streamsof Islamic political thought in Turkey during that period. The first stream is the "new Muslim intellectuals" representedby Ali Bulaq. Bulaq rejected any idea of division within the Islamic community, including ethnic division and the nation-stateas political division. The basis for this rejection was the theological principle of tevhid, now projected onto the political order. The thesis elucidates Bulag's work, by analyzing it in the light of liberation theology. The secondstream is representedby NecmettinErbakan, the leader of the Welfare Party. Erbakantoo rejected the nation-state,preferring an Islamic political order or at least the re-establishmentof an Islamic empire, this time based on the Islamic Turkic people. The third stream is representedby the creators of the Turkish Islamic synthesis,an intellectual group known as the Aydinlar Oca#-I,whose ideology was co- opted by the military regime. This group saw religion as an ideology and a tool for social control. In this spirit, they tried to promote a quietist version of Islamic conservatism.Although they collaboratedwith the regime and even worked toward its legitimation, they did not reject the possibility of creating an ethnic-basedstate. The thesis concludesthat although the Anatolian-basednation-state exists in reality, at the ideological level, within the religious community in Turkey, there has been no agreement on its legitimacy. In the 1980's Islam neglected the struggle for the national cause in favour of a struggle for social justice. In a paradoxical way, while the military and later the civilian regime encouraged Islam as a counter- ideology to the left, an ideological alliance evolved between Islamic circles and the left in the name of social justice. No material offered has previously submitted by me for a degree in this or any other university. Anat Lapidot, 1995 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author No quotation from it should be published without her prior consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. To my parents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS long I would like to thank many personswho have aided me throughout this journey: Mr. G6khan Cantaya, Mr. Tayfun Ayata, Harun and Peri Efes, Ms. Yasmin Agasi, Mr. David Tal, Dr. M. Tomarkin, Dr. J. Kostiner, Dr. Ay5e Gfinq-Ayata and Prof. Metin Heper. I would like in particular to thank Dr. Philip Robins for reading a preliminary version of the thesis and for his useful advice; and Dr. Moshe Gemmer, for his remarks on some early chaptersand his support. I would also like to thank Mr. Michalis Firillas who read some chaptersand offered some important suggestionsfor revision. Also, I would like to expressmy thanks to Prof. Aryeh Shmuelevitz, to whom I owe my interest in Turkey, and for his constant encouragement.I shall always be grateful to the late Professor Uriel Dunn, for his valuable comments on the early versions of chapters3 and 4.1 am grateful to my teachersand colleagues at the Department of History of the Middle East and Africa and the Dayan Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, at the Tel-Aviv University for their advice, support and encouragement.I extend my thanks to Mr. Tudor, and the secretariesat the Politics Department; Dr. Richardson and the staff at the GraduateSociety, at the University of Durham. To Eldad Salzmann,for his assistanceand patience, I offer my thanks and gratitude. I would also like to thank the Harod Hyim Wingate scholarship, and the Tel-Aviv University Trust in London for their generousgrants. I have not mentionedby name the many friends who read chaptersof the thesis, but they are not forgotten. Needlessto say I accept full responsibility for the analysis contained in this thesis and for any defects or errors. V Finally, I am most grateful to my parents, without whose unfailing support this thesis could not have been written. It is a pleasure to dedicate it to them. October, 1994 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ...................................................... Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: ISLAM AND THE STATE IN THE 1980's 7 ................ 1.1 Historical Backaround 7 ...................................... 1.2 Government's Policy Towards Islam 13 ............................ 1.3 MP's Internal Conflict 16 ..................................... 1.4 The Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet i5leri Ba5kanliki) 20 ................................................ 1.5 The Prospects Islamic Reaction Cirtica') 22 of ....................... 1.6 The Battle Islamic Education 27 over ............................. 1.7 Women's Rights 31 ......................................... 1.8 Islam in Turkish Foreign Policy 34 ............................... 1.9 'Islamic' Economic Activity 37 ................................. 1.10 Government Responseto Islamic Radicalism 43 ...................... 1.11 Conclusion 46 ............................................. Chapter 2 THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT 49 ....................................... 2.1 Views Attitudes 49 and ....................................... 2.2 The Islamic Movement ..................................... 56 2.3 Classification Models and ................................... 57 2.4 The Political-Ideological View 59 ................................ 2.5 New Aspects the Movement in the 1980's 64 of ...................... 2.6 Conclusions 66 ............................................. vii Chapter 3 NATIONALISM AND ISLAM 69 ..................................... 3.1 The Definition Nature Nationalism 70 and of ........................ 3.2 The Academic Discussion 73 ................................... 3.3 Nationalism Islam 76 and ..................................... 3.4 The Question Compatibility, Views Attitudes 78 of and ................. 3.5 The ConcQt State 83 of the .................................... 3.6 The Emeraence Nationalism in the Middle East 89 of ................... 3.7 Conclusions 93 ............................................. Chapter 4 NATIONALISM AND ISLAM IN TURKISH POLITICAL THOUGHT 95 ......... 4.1 The Tanzimat's Literary Figures and Fundamentalsof Nationalism 96 ................................................ 4.2 The Seeds Turkish Islamic Radicalism 101 of . ....................... 4.3 The Emerizence Turkic Nationalism 104 of .......................... 4.4 The Youniz Turk Period 107 .................................... 4.5 The 'Age-of Ignorance' 1924-1949 112 ............................. 4.6 The Reemergence Turkic Nationalism (pan-Turanianism) 115 of ............ 4.7 Conclusions 118 ............................................. Chapter 5 MODERN ISLAMIC POLITICAL THOUGHT 120 ........................... 5.1 Intellectuals Tradition 122 and ................................... 5.2 The Turkish Intellectual Background 125 ............................ 5.3 The Sunni-Shi'i Division 127 .................................... 5.4 The Problem Stap-nation:A Re-evaluation 133 of ...................... 5.5 Conclusions 142 ............................................. viii Chapter6 AU BULAC AND 'ISLAMIC LIBERATION THEOLOGY' 144 ................. 6.1 "New Muslim Intellectuals................ 144 .................... 6.2 Background 145 ............................................. 6.3 Ali Bulag LiberationTheology 146 and ............................. 6.4 The Heritage Civilization Movement 151 of the ....................... 6.5 Analysis Bulag's Work 153 of ................................... 6.6 Bulag's Attitude OtherReligions 155 towards ........................ 6.7 IslamicThou6t Muslim Intellectuals 156 and ........................ 6.8 Atheism,Modernism Imperialism 158 and ........................... 6.9 The Islamic Socie1y Future 161 of the .............................