Islam and politics

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, artistic and philosophical activities took shape according to the preferences of leftist groups, whereas political life was more in the hands of rightist groups. Undoubtedly, in the formation of Turkey's political life, religious people have had a big impact, for they comprise a major part of the population. Well nothing else could be expected in a country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population.

Beginning particularly in the 1970s, subjects such as Islamic movements, Islam and politics have become a frequent topic of discussion. We could dwell on a large number of reasons that made this transformation in a way inevitable, though the reason we should mention first is that religions all across the world had begun gravitating toward the political sphere and that regimes in the Islamic world were falling far short of fulfilling the functions expected of them. The social crisis in the modern world has drawn people's attention to religions once again. Just as is the case in the world, religious groups in Turkey are not united and thus each group professes political preferences and attitudes peculiar to itself. Generally speaking, we can talk of the political attitudes of three main groups in Turkey:

1) Religious congregations: Those who fall under this category are dubbed "organized religion" in scientific research. This classification encompasses Sufi orders, organized activities and religious congregations. The main body of the Muslim population consists of these congregations since they comprise the largest and most populous segments within the community. To be more brief and comprehensible, we can call this group the "social Muslimhood."

2) Political groups: We can include parties involved in the political sphere in line with the Milli Görüş (National View: a movement established by former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan back in 1969) style. This style emerged with the National Order Party (MNP) and is still alive with the Felicity Party (SP). The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) appeared on the horizon as the restorer of this style. For the most part, these parties form their own voter base and thereby are distinguished from other organized religious streams and congregations.

3) Independent groups: It is virtually impossible to make a thorough classification of them. They disperse and then reappear. It can be observed that the livelihood of the intellectual/philosophical activities in Turkey intensifies or wanes in accordance to the extent with which these groups are active.

The political attitudes of these groups are different. The way religious congregations look at politics is practical and pragmatic. What matters for them is the arrival in power of parties that will view their social developments favorably. For this reason politics for religious congregations means bargaining and is therefore an item of exchange. If the bargaining ends in an agreement, the rest ceases to be important and the candidates of the party they will support are no longer important. The party may well nominate a casino singer and they will vote for him.

Congregations vote for central right parties, but without an absolute devotion to any party. The Republican People's Party (CHP) is their red line to be avoided. They never ever vote for the CHP. Parties that are extensions of the National View are different from congregations with their own political projects peculiar to themselves and their own way of demanding political power. There is no question of congregations demanding political power. They never do that.

It is, on the other hand, very difficult to find a common denominator in the political attitudes and stances of the independent groups. Their disorganization impacts on their political attitudes. These groups fall under a very wide as well as jumbled category consisting of very different groups from small radical groups that are against political participation through a democratic mechanism to groups whose political activity is entirely limited to voting in elections.

The chief factor that keeps these independent groups away from politics, unlike the case with the congregations, is intellectual. They do not have political interests.