The Principle of Laicism and Counter State-building in Turkey: Reflections on History and on the Conjuncture of Contemporary Politics

Abstract

The principle of laicism has been one of the main pillars of the state-building process of Turkey. Laicism in Turkish context was held through incorporation of religious institutions into the state apparatus. Starting with the 1990s parties with Islamist background have gained political power and found their way into government. With some reflections on the historical evaluation of Turkish politics, this article accommodates western oriented theories of state-building suggested by prominent scholars such as Charles Tilly and Stein Rokkan, and Barkey's complimentary model of state formation for non-western societies. The key objective of this article is to scrutinize the relationship between the state and religion during the old and the new state-building processes of Turkey. This study provides systematic empirical evidence to the argument that Millennium has witnessed a well-organized counter state-building process carried on by the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).