Review of the Opportunities and Challenges of the Transition to Democracy in Turkey from the 1980s onwards,from the Perspective of Constructivism Theory

Market-oriented policies and liberal economic policies pursued by Turgut Özal in the 1980s in Turkey, had initiated several structural changes in the cultural, economic and political spheres in the country. Constructive and cultural perceptions of Islam, expansion and strengthening the role of the bourgeoisie Muslim community- based and finally hegemony of Islamist Justice and Development Party’s ideas in recent decade are obvious appearances of these structural changes. This article is planned in the framework of constructivism approach based on the dynamics and logic of developments in Turkey. At First, for a deeper understanding of the historical, cultural and political roots of Turkey, the relationship between government and society was investigated in the Ottoman period and Atatürk. This article is an attempt to illustrate constructive, dialogical and identity-based perceptions of Islam, as major factors of relative institutionalization of democracy in Turkey. In fact, the main question of the paper is that which perception of Islam has resulted in relative establishment and consolidation of democracy in Turkey. It is worth to mention that the events happened in Turkey at Spring 2013 made it essential to have a deeper review of this issue. Environmental protest that s began because of cutting down Gezi Park trees, quickly won the title of greatest social movement in Turkey at the two past decades. The present article considers this event as the continuation of Turkey's democratic process logic and analyzes in this regard. A qualitative research method was used in this paper and documentary method was used for data collection.