8/13/2019 The Islamic Roots of the Conflict in Turkey

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The Islamic roots of the conflict in Turkey

The conflict between the Glen movement and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has now taen on avery public dimension! "or many in Turey and in the #est$ this conflict is nothin% but a power stru%%le! &et$

focusin% solely on politics and the 'uest for power would be reductionist! The current conflict has deephistorical$ ideolo%ical and even doctrinal roots!

At the ideolo%ical level$ the most important diver%ence is the two sides conflictin% approach to slam! The AKP

is not a classical slamist party$ but it does come from a *political slam+ tradition! The predecessor of the AKP

was the #elfare Party (,P)$ under the leadership of -ecmettin .rbaan! The ideolo%ical tradition of .rbaan

was nown as the */illi G0r1+ (-ational 2iew) movement$ which followed the precepts of classical political

slam$ in the footsteps of Arab slamist theorists lie 3ayyid 4utb and 5assan al67anna in .%ypt! /illi G0r1

stems from the /uslim 7rotherhood tradition! The /uslim 7rotherhood is a *political slam+6oriented movement

that wants to come to power in order to chan%e the %overnin% system! t prioriti8es the brotherhood of the

*umma+ in the classical slamic sense$ as a universal community of believers! The concept of a nation6state is

re9ected by the /uslim 7rotherhood because it is seen as divisive and tribalist$ in addition to bein% a relatively

modern #estern invention!

The Glenists$ however$ come from a 3ufi and Turish brand of slam that is not a%ainst the nation6state! :n

the contrary$ it embraces Turish nationalism and shows %reat respect for the :ttoman;Turish state tradition!

This patriotic and nationalist brand of 3ufi slam$ embraced by the Glen movement$ has considerable disdain

for the Arab world! The roots of the Glen movement %o bac to 3aid -ursi (=6