"… I began this essay by noting how some American scholars and policy makers have tended to be supportive of the AKP and the Gülen movement. I think that many of them do this because they see this as a struggle between Islam and secularism, and they wish to be on the side of the Muslim majority. I also think that many of them hold to an Orientalist belief that Muslim majority countries cannot aspire to democracy but instead to some form of “Islamic democracy.” They thus see Erdoğan and Gülen as the best alternatives to more extremist forms of Islamism. I think they have an overly essentialist view of Islam that leads them to an overly narrow view of the possibilities open to Muslims. Certainly I would not write-off either the Muslim Brotherhood or the AKP as totalitarian movements. But they do represent forms of conservative majoritarianism. At the most they may be willing to tolerate pluralism to a limited degree, but they certainly do not embrace or celebrate it. The social movement arising out of the Gezi protests is not about secularism vs. Islam. It is more accurately about pluralism vs. majoritarian-ism. Unlike Egypt there is virtually no possibility that the current regime will be removed by a coup. But the upcoming electoral struggle will be fascinating to observe. Like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the AKP and the religious communities that support them have the advantage when it comes to organization. The Gezi protests have mobilized an opposition to the AKP that was previously both intimidated and discouraged, and a month and a half later that opposition is still active and vital. But there is as yet no single political party who seems to speak for the concerns of this opposition, and the question remains whether this movement will translate into votes that will change the government. (Parliamentary elections, unless Erdoğan moves up the date, are scheduled for 2015 ) Eboo Patel has said that the real struggle in the 21st Century is between pluralism and totalitarianism. This may be a bit stark, but I understand his point. It seems clear that the real conflict in Turkey, Egypt, and, in fact, in many parts of the world is between those who embrace pluralism and see it as something for which we should strive, and those who are troubled by it and believe that the religious and cultural sensibilities of the majority should, at the very least, be privileged."
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:12:39 +0000
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