THE CRITIC OF LIBERAL APPROACH TOWARDS JDP A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ÖZGÜR OLGUN ERDEN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY DECEMBER 2018 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences ________________________ Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________ Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cenk Saraçoğlu (Ankara Uni., GZT) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Yıldırım (METU, ADM) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kemal Bayırbağ (METU, ADM.) Assist. Prof. Dr. Kurtuluş Cengiz (Ankara Uni., SOS.) ii I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Özgür Olgun Erden Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE CRITIC OF LIBERAL APPROACH TOWARDS JDP Erden, Özgür Olgun Ph.D., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assoc.Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen December 2018, 314 pages This study examines the analyses and arguments of three major intellectual groups, which is termed as liberal, conservative-Islamist, and leftist-liberal and/or liberal- leftist, concerning the JDP and Islamism. Based on in-depth interviews which was made with these intellectual groups, it investigates the reasons why these groups have taken a critical stance against the JDP and its power after a certain period while supporting the JDP since its foundation. The inquiry endeavors to do two things. The first interrogates why these two contrary position and attitude emerged and upon what they were based. The second makes a critic of these intellectual group’s approach towards the JDP, in the light of my own perspective which was developed in the course of investigating what the approach behind the mentioning position and attitude change is. For that, all these have been relied on two fundamental things. One is a far-reaching inquiry and debate of literature. Other is in-depth interviews made with those who have been situated in the foregoing intellectual groups. On the basis of these literature and in-depth interviews, the study tries to put forward these intellectual groups’ approach, expressed as liberal, in line with the literature and the answers which have taken in in-depth interviews. It also develops a perspective that iv allows a critique of the interviewees’ approach. It makes a critic of these intellectual groups’ approach through this perspective. Keywords: JDP, Intellectuals, Islamism, Liberal Approach, Historical-Political Islamism v ÖZ AKP’YE YÖNELİK LİBERAL PERSPEKTİFİN BİR KRİTİĞİ Erden, Özgür Olgun Doktora, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Mustafa Şen Aralık 2018, 314 sayfa Bu çalışma, liberal, muhafazakar-İslamcı, sol-liberal ve/veya liberal-sol olarak adlandırılan üç ana entellektüel grubun AKP ve İslamcılık üzerine analiz ve argümanlarını inceler. Bu entellektüel gruplarla derinlemesine görüşmeler yaparak onların kuruluşundan itibaren AKP’yi desteklerken neden belli bir dönemden sonra AKP ve iktidarına karşı eleştirel bir pozisyon aldıklarını araştırır. Çalışma, iki şeyi gerçekleştirmeye çalışır. İlki, bu iki karşıt pozisyon ve tutumun neden ortaya çıktığını ve onların neye dayandırıldıklarını sorgular. Ikincisi, anılan bu pozisyon ve tutum değişikliğinin arkasındaki yaklaşımın ne olduğunu araştırma sürecinde geliştirilen bu çalışmanın perspektifinden belirtilen entellektüel grupların AKP’ye yönelik perspektifinin bir kritiği yapılır. Bütün bunlar, iki temel şeye dayandırılmıştır. Birincisi, kapsamlı bir literatür araştırması ve tartışmasıdır. Diğeri de, sözü edilen entellektüel gruplarda yeralan isimlerle yapılan derinlemesine görüşmelerdir. Bu literatür ve derinlemesine görüşmelere dayanarak bu çalışma söz konusu görüşmelerde alınan yanıtlar ve literatür doğrultusunda liberal olarak ifade edilen bu entellektüel grupların yaklaşımını ortaya koymaya çalışır. Ayrıca, görüşülen entellektüel isimlerin yaklaşımının bir eleştirisini yapma imkanı tanıyan bir perspektif geliştirir. Bu perspektif temelinde belirtilen entellektüel grupların yaklaşımının bir kritiğini yapar. vi Anahtar Kelimeler: AKP, Entellektüeller, İslamcılık, Liberal Perspektif, Tarihsel- Siyasal İslamcılık vii DEDICATION In Memory of My Mother, And To My Wife and Our Little Daughter, Meltem and Derin Bircan. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Şen, for his guidance, critical advices and contributions. Also, I wish to express my thanks to the examining committee members for their criticisms and suggestions concerning the dissertation. I would like to particularly thank to to a name, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kemal Bayırbağ for his criticisms, contributions, suggestions, and sincere and friendly attitude. This dissertation was a product of tough times owing to undesirable and quick changes and developments in both Turkey and especially in my life, which made my study difficult to write. However, I was rather lucky to have warm-hearted people in those times. I owe a lot to my family and younger sister for their continuous supports, assistances and encouragements. So, I am so grateful to my wife, Meltem, and my sister, Burcu, for their beliefs, helps and self-devotions. This study could never be completed without their unceasing supports, tolerances and patiences. Also, I would like to thank to my friends, Atakan, Meral, Aksu, Mehtap, Burcu, Serhat, Şahin, and Ekin, who were my colleagues and the research assistants of METU Sociology, for their interests, suggestions, assistances and encouragements, when coming to an end in the writing of this thesis. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ........................................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ............................................................................................................................................ vi DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. The Problem of the Study .............................................................................................. 1 1.2. Methodology ............................................................................................................... 20 1.3. Organization of the Study ............................................................................................ 24 2.A CONCEPTUAL DISCUSSION: ISLAMISM................................................................. 27 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 27 2.2. Islam and Islamism ...................................................................................................... 31 2.3. Islamism: The Definition, the Historical-Intellectual Roots, and the Re- contextualizing of Islamism in Turkey ............................................................................... 36 2.3.1. What is Islamism? ................................................................................................ 39 2.3.2. The Historical Intellectual and Political Roots of Islamism ................................. 45 2.4. ‘Globalized Islam’: The End of Political Islam? ......................................................... 54 2.5. Post-Islamism .............................................................................................................. 60 2.6. The Re-contextualizing Islamism in Turkey ............................................................... 67 2.7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 75 3.LIBERAL APPROACH TO ISLAMISM IN TURKEY ..................................................... 78 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 78 3.2. Islamism in the Late Ottoman Period .......................................................................... 82 3.3. Islamism in Republican Turkey..................................................................................