The Evasive Crescent: The Role of Religion in Politics

The Evasive Crescent: The Role of Religion in Politics, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
The first issue of TPQ in 2004 focuses on religion and politics, specifically in terms of both the worldwide debate on the relationship between Islam and democracy and the role religion plays in Turkey’s quest for EU membership. Nowadays many...

Nigâr Göksel

Euro-Islam: The Quest of Islamic Migrants and of Turkey to Become European in a Secular Europe, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
This article argues that successful integration of Muslim immigrants in Europe is the ticket for Turkey's accession to the European Union. European attitudes and policies as well as the tendencies of the Muslim community in Europe are analyzed...

Bassam Tibi

The Structure, Mission and Social Function of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
This essay dwells upon several aspects of the state-religion relation in Turkey. The author stresses that secularism and the Directorate of Religous Affairs do not contradict with one another. The author emphasizes that the Muslim society is one...

Ali Bardakoğlu

Political Islam, Governance and Democracy, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
Islam remains a central cultural and sociopolitical force throughout the Islamic world. The success of political Islam, though varying in different Muslim countries, depends largely on its advocates’ abilities to provide pragmatic solutions to real...

Ali Reza Abootalebi

On Compatibility of Islam and Democracy, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
Misunderstandings among societies and cultures are still common. The West’s view of Islam fails to see the compatibility of democracy and Muslim societies. Terrorism, too easily associated with Islam, further blurs the picture....

Reha Keskintepe

Non-Muslim Minorities in Turkey: Progress and Challenges, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
Turkey’s progress towards opening official accession negotiations with the EU has forced the government to confront some of the many anomalies in the state’s treatment of its non-Muslim citizens. Since it took power in November 2002, the Justice and...

Gareth Jenkins

AKP and Paradox of Islamic Europhilia, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
While Turkish political Islam has historically expressed its opposition to the prospect of Turkey’s full participation in a “Christian Club,” the recent EU policy of AKP has constituted a radical breach with that past: AKP is now...

Ioannis N. Grigoriadis

The Role of Religion in Turkish Reactions to Balkan Conflicts, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
The paper examines some of the different ways ‘religion’ affected Turkish responses to the ethnic tensions and conflict that have occurred in South East Europe since the end of the Cold War, focusing on the conflicts in...

Esra Bulut

Failure of Political Islam in Turkey, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
Political Islam played an important role in the previous three decades of Turkish political life. It is now time to declare the failure of political Islam and its gradual disappearance from the Turkish political scene. The ruling party, Justice and...

Bülent Aras

Re-Socializing Religion: Islam and the New Social Contract in Turkey, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
This article discusses religion in Turkey within the context of recent domestic and international developments. The main argument is the inapplicability of the Cold War perceptions on religion in Turkey. Accordingly, different political groups and...

Gökhan Bacık

Can Religion Heal America’s Disadvantaged?, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
The United States is currently debating the full-scale implementation of a piece of legislation contained in the Welfare Reform bill of 1996 that permits the direct government subsidy of religious organizations engaged in public social service...

Daniel Freifeld

The Unique Role of Religion in Middle Eastern Ethnic Conflict: A Large-N Study, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
There has always been a common perception that religion and politics are particularly and uniquely intertwined in Middle Eastern culture. While the anecdotal evidence for this perception is overwhelming, there have been few cross-sectional, large-n...

Jonathan Fox

Public Opinion: Pulse of Turkey, Spring 2004Saturday, June 5, 2004
STRATEJ İ|GfK (previously STRATEJ İ|MORI), since 1994 has sought to track the attitudes of Turkey’s population of 18 years and older towards political, social and economic developments. The main results of January 2004...

Strateji Gfk

The Evasive Crescent: The Role of Religion in PoliticsVol. 3 No. 1 - Spring 2004

The Evasive Crescent: The Role of Religion in Politics
Vol. 3 No. 1 - Spring 2004