Rethinking of Political Islam in Turkey; the Post-Islamism and Iran’s Approach

This article seeks to rethink the prevailing assumptions of Islamism in the contemporary Turkish politics and society. Contrary to common approaches that consider Islam as an ideology in explaining the Turkish political Islamism, this article by perceiving Islam as a social tradition and source of national identity, presents an alternative perspective on understanding the nature and function of Islamism in Turkey. In the theoretical framework of Historical Sociology, it offers two interrelated contributions; first, Islamism in Turkey is not a newly-emerged phenomenon constructed by the AKP. Second, Islamism is the result of the confluence of socio-historical structures, the ruling elite’s approaches, and the interaction of Islamists with the state and society that its multifaceted nature and complex function are explained by the concept of post-Islamism. Accordingly, Iran's approach towards Islamism in Turkey as a goal and ideology does not lead to constructive assessment on Turkey’s domestic political dynamics and foreign policy activism. For the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey is a geopolitical and to some-extend geoeconomic player in the region rather than an ideological actor, in which the Islam does not play a key role in shaping bilateral relations and regional interactions. Therefore, Islamism, as a source of mobilizing identity, is an ideational leverage for regime security, consolidating of President Erdogan’s domestic authority, and Turkey's active regionalism in the Islamic world.