IN SEARCH OF AN APPROPRIATE MODEL OF STATE-RELIGION RELATIONS FOR POST-SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA: LESSONS FROM THE RECENT EVOLUTION OF SECULARISM IN TURKEY
Keywords:
Passive secularism, assertive secularism, public sphere, post-Soviet Central Asia, Muslim politics.Abstract
Secularism may take different shapes and forms in different contexts, from aggressively hostile toward religion to accepting and standing for the public visibility of religion. The latter model, which is depicted as passive secularism, can be qualified as a human rights-oriented and democracy-friendly model. Secularism in Turkey is undergoing fundamental transformation from assertive to passive, and the process is still going on. The continuing evolution of the “Turkish secularism” model cannot be understood properly without taking into account the peculiarities of the “internally driven” and gradual evolutionary transformation of the Turkish elites, social forces, and society, including the “Özal and AKP factors,” which have been crucial in liberalizing political, economic, and sociocultural life in Turkey. In this respect, recent Turkish experience constitutes a striking example for post-Soviet Central Asia. On the whole, passive secularism would be a better choice for the Central Asian countries in building a tolerant, stable, and viable society.
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It seems that this kind of problem in Turkish politics ensues from the deviation of some AKP’s politicians from conservative democracy and their (probably) unconscious immersion into the Islamist Milli Görüș’s divisive perception of the world and harsh rhetoric.
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Nevertheless, after the tragic events unfolded in Egypt in the summer of 2013, it can be assumed that the Arab Islamists will rethink their stance toward (passive) secularism and embrace it at least in principle.
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See: Ibidem.
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