The Prospects and Pitfalls of the Religious Nationalist Movement in Turkey: The Case of the Gulen Movement

Koyuncu-Lorasdagi B.

MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, vol.46, no.2, pp.221-234, 2010 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 46 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/00263200902800760
  • Journal Name: MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.221-234
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article examines the interplay of religion and nationalism in Turkey in the post-1990 period and discusses the prospects and pitfalls of religious nationalist movement by focusing on Gulen's Turkish Muslimhood. It is believed that the instrumental relationship between Islam and nationalism in Turkey as exemplified in the modernist religious nationalism of Gulen will help reveal that Islam has always been an indispensable element of the discourse of nationalism in Turkey and will force us to rethink the role or religion in Turkish society and politics.