FROM AN INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT TO POLITICAL PARTIES: THE TRANSFORMATION OF TURKISH ISLAMIST GROUPS

Abstract

Islamism was one of a number of political ideas that had emerged in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. This study aims to outline the ideas of the Islamist movement in the Ottoman era and to put forward the agreements or differences of opinion vis-a-vis the Islamist movement during the Republican era with respect to their perspectives on the state and modernisation. The main argument of this study is that, contrary to what the current literature claims, the organisation of the Justice and Development Party did not mark a third-generation, rather, changing their discourses, the Islamists in the Republican era continued their political activities within the body of the Felicity Party of the National Outlook movement. The Republican era generation of Islamists will be examined in the axis of the National Outlook Movement. The work plan will be as follows with consideration to the short scope of the study: First, the political ideas of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century will be introduced. The main aims of political movements in this century will be described and the differences between them will be identified. After these observations, a detailed examination of the Islamist movement will follow and the ideas of the National Outlook Movement, which is the main subject of the study and the Republican era generation, will be analysed separately. The study will be carried out using the interpretivism method within the scope of the politology of religion.