Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Political Science Dissertations Department of Political Science Summer 8-12-2016 Rethinking Turkey's Laicism In Light Of The Debates About Liberal Neutrality Omer Tasgetiren Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/political_science_diss Recommended Citation Tasgetiren, Omer, "Rethinking Turkey's Laicism In Light Of The Debates About Liberal Neutrality." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2016. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/political_science_diss/41 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Political Science at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RETHINKING TURKEY’S LAICISM IN LIGHT OF THE DEBATES ABOUT LIBERAL NEUTRALITY by OMER TASGETIREN Under the Direction of Peter Lindsay (PhD) ABSTRACT The dissertation examines in detail the concept of neutrality in political theory literature and assesses the arguments of the defenders and critics of Turkey’s laicism in light of such an examination. After showing the weaknesses and problems in the arguments of various political actors in Turkey, the dissertation defends “modus vivendi liberalism” as a possible solution for the conflicts about Turkey’s laicism. In that regard, the dissertation argues that certain aspects of liberal political theory can be appropriated for Turkish politics for the sake of ensuring stability and peace even if there might be problems with the possibility and desirability of neutrality. The dissertation also discusses what can constitute Turkey’s modus vivendi and offer certain ideas about what may and may not ensure stability and peace in Turkey. INDEX WORDS: Laicism, Secularism, Modus Vivendi Liberalism, Liberal Neutrality, Turkey, Communitarianism RETHINKING TURKEY’S LAICISM IN LIGHT OF THE DEBATES ABOUT LIBERAL NEUTRALITY by OMER TASGETIREN A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2016 Copyright by Omer Tasgetiren 2016 RETHINKING TURKEY’S LAICISM IN LIGHT OF THE DEBATES ABOUT LIBERAL NEUTRALITY by OMER TASGETIREN Committee Chair: Peter Lindsay Committee: Michael Herb Mario Feit Louis Ruprecht Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University August 2016 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my wife Rümeysa for sharing the joys and frustrations of dissertation writing. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor Peter Lindsay for providing generous support throughout my graduate studies and the dissertation research and writing process. His criticisms, suggestions, and advices contributed significantly to the improvement of this dissertation. I am grateful to him for all his intellectual contributions and his gracious and patient attitude. I also want to thank to Michael Herb, Mario Feit and Louis Ruprecht for serving in my dissertation committee and their helpful suggestions and criticisms of the dissertation. I want to thank Recep Şentürk for inviting me to the workshop of Istanbul Foundation for Research and Education where I presented my research and received very helpful feedback from the participants. I greatly appreciate all the feedback I received from him and all the participants in the workshop. In Atlanta, I want to thank my friends and colleagues Mehmet Özil, Deniz Gümüştekin, Engin Sevim, Chi-Ching Lee, Abbas Barzegar, Yusuf Ünal, Jason Levitt, Mohammad Huweih for their friendship, help and the lively conversations about the issues I study. I also want to thank İsmail Yaylacı, Zahit Atçıl, Hızır Murat Köse, Eyyüp Said Kaya for helping me in different stages of the dissertation writing process. I want to thank my mother and father Emine and Ahmet Taşgetiren for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout my academic studies. I can never express enough my gratitude to them. My father shared his insights and wisdom in our conversations and my mother always encouraged me to pursue my goals and supported me in many challenges I faced in my life as a graduate student in the United States. I also want to thank to my brothers Çağrı, Mahmut Tuğrul, İbrahim Safa and Mustafa Emre for all their support. vi Finally I want to thank my wife Rümeysa for her love, support, patience and dedication to our marriage. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ V 1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 1 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................. 15 2.1 Turkey’s Laicism in the Single-Party Period .................................................. 16 2.2 Multiparty Period and Laicism ......................................................................... 23 2.3 Islamic Political Parties and the Rise of the AKP ........................................... 29 2.4 Post-Kemalist Turkey and Its Critiques .......................................................... 34 2.5 Religious Minorities and Laicism ..................................................................... 37 3 AN EMPIRICAL CRITIQUE OF TURKEY’S LAICISM’S POWER- KNOWLEDGE REGIME .......................................................................................................... 41 3.1 Secularism as a “Power-Knowledge Regime” ................................................. 42 3.2 Turkey’s Laicism as a “Power-Knowledge Regime” ...................................... 45 3.3 Why does Turkey’s Laicism Resemble What It Critiques (Religion)? ......... 49 3.4 Beyond an Empirical Critique .......................................................................... 52 3.5 Three Major Positions on State Neutrality about Religion in Turkey: Neutralists, Kemalists, and Religious Communitarians ...................................................... 53 4 THE DEFINITIONS, INTERPRETATIONS, JUSTIFICATIONS, POSSIBILITY AND DESIRABILITY OF NEUTRALITY ................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... 59 viii 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 59 4.2 Definitions, Interpretations, and Scope of Neutrality ..................................... 63 4.3 Justifications of Neutrality ................................................................................ 67 4.4 The Possibility of the Neutrality of Aim ........................................................... 69 4.5 The Possibility of the Neutrality of Justification ............................................. 78 4.6 The Possibility of the Neutrality of Effect ........................................................ 90 4.7 Genealogical School’s Challenges to the Possibility of Neutrality ................. 96 4.8 One Possible Way of Neutralizing States: Kukathas’ Archipelago ............. 100 4.9 Why Neutrality is Not Desirable From a Liberal Perspective? ................... 103 4.10 Desirability of the Neutrality from a Communitarian Perspective ............. 111 4.11 Implications of These Theoretical Considerations for Turkey .................... 114 4.12 Modus Vivendi Liberalism as a Possible Solution to Turkey’s Problems .. 117 4.13 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 125 5 A DISCUSSION OF WHAT CAN CONSTITUTE TURKEY’S MODUS VIVENDI ................................................................................................................................... 127 5.1 Should Turkey be Laic State? Should Turkey’s Constitutions Endorse Kemalism? ............................................................................................................................ 128 5.2 An Evaluation of the Reform Proposals of Turkey’s “Sunni Bias” ............ 137 5.3 What Can Be Done About Education Policies of Turkey? ........................... 142 5.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 145 ix 6 CONCLUSION: A DISCUSSION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DISSERTATION ...................................................................................................................... 146 REFERENCE ................................................................................................................ 155 1 1 INTRODUCTION Much has been written about Turkey’s laicism1. Political scientists (Çinar 2005; Heper 2009; Kuru 2009; Kuru and Stepan 2012; Mardin 1989, 1991, 2006, 2014; Nasr 1999, 2003), sociologists (Ardıç 2012; Azak 2010), anthropologists (Navaro-Yashin 2002; Ozyurek 2006), religious studies scholars (Esposito 2000), and historians (Berkes 1998; Lewis 1968) wrote on Turkish laicism from their respective disciplines. What more is there to write on this topic? The central concern that led me to start writing this dissertation is the fact that a political theory analysis that aims to evaluate the theoretical arguments for or against Turkey’s laicism has not been written. Such a political theory based