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ŞAHİN ALPAY
s.alpay@todayszaman.com |
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AKP is not even ‘mildly’ Islamist
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| Certain circles both inside and outside of the country who want democracy in Turkey to collapse and the Turkey-EU relationship to come to an end maintain that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is Islamist, and even Islamofascist. |
It is quite obvious that these circles are either ideologically biased or politically motivated, and their judgments regarding the AKP need not be taken seriously. But even some in the Western media and academic circles -- who might be expected to be better informed -- refer to the AKP as Islamist, even if qualified as "mildly," "moderately," "modernist" or "liberal." The questions as to what Islamism means and whether the AKP is Islamist or not, then, truly deserve attention.
Olivier Roy, the distinguished French expert, defines Islamism as follows: "Islamists see Islam not as a mere religion, but as a political ideology which should be integrated into all aspects of society (politics, law, economy, social justice, foreign policy, etc.)." According to Roy, even if most Islamist parties have recast their direction in nationalist terms, "one thing remains: Shariah, with family law at its core." (Open Democracy, Oct. 30, 2006.) Distinguished American expert Graham E. Fuller provides Islamism's broadest definition in his book "The Future of Political Islam": "An Islamist is one who believes that Islam as a body of faith has something important to say about how politics and society should be ordered in the contemporary Muslim world and who seeks to implement this idea in some fashion."
In terms of the above definitions, the Welfare Party (RP, closed down in 1998) could surely be regarded as a "moderately" Islamist party because it did advocate for a "just economic system" as distinct from both capitalism and socialism, legal pluralism (Shariah in private law), and the establishment of a union of Islamic states. The fact that most of its leaders were once RP members is, however, not proof of the AKP's Islamism. Judged on its own discourse and performance, the AKP cannot be regarded as even mildly Islamist, even with the broadest definition of the term. The AKP is a "conservative democratic" party, that is, a party committed to conservative religious values in culture, but to democratic principles in politics. The AKP has put forward the most liberal political and economic platform thus far in the history of the Turkish Republic. The AKP is the unifying centrist party of Turkey that garners votes from all social segments and regions of the country.
The AKP has never advocated or taken legislative action for the adoption of Shariah. It has never tried to impose the wearing of headscarves on women, but recently took legal action to lift the headscarf ban in universities with the encouragement and support of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which like the AKP has long opposed the ban. The AKP is in favor of ending the discrimination in the university entrance examinations against graduates of vocational schools and imam-hatip schools, which are not private schools run by fanatical Muslim fundamentalists but rather public schools under the supervision of state authorities. The AKP is also in favor of easing restrictions on Quran courses, but has not passed legislation on such issues. The AKP administrations have favored not only better relations with all countries, including Muslim ones, but have also stood for close relations with the West and Israel. The AKP governments adopted the reforms that put Turkey on the road to EU membership.
Those who, without ideological bias or political motivation, still call the AKP mildly or moderately Islamist need to understand the following: The former RP leaders that eventually split from the RP and founded the AKP have left behind Islamism in all respects because they realized not only that Islamism has failed worldwide, but that the vast majority of Turkey's population -- which adheres to Islamic values but is equally committed to a democratic and secular regime -- will never embrace Islamism. The bans and repression they have been subjected to taught them not to hide their agenda, but the precious value of political freedom. This is what makes the AKP the relatively, if not ideally, progressive party of Turkey today. Turkey's democracy, however deficient and imperfect, has enabled the Islamists to learn from their mistakes and leave Islamism behind. Without grasping this point it is not possible to understand what is going on in Turkey.
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