International politics in Turkish Islamism during the Cold War, 1947-1964


YILDIZ T.

MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, vol.59, no.3, pp.437-455, 2023 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Editorial Material
  • Volume: 59 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2023
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/00263206.2022.2103545
  • Journal Name: MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, Geobase, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Jewish Studies Source, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.437-455
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article will discuss the early discourse of Islamism on international politics in Cold War Turkey. It brings forth four main findings. First, while Islamists bandwagoned onto the discourse of the Turkish state and the Western bloc in presenting the Soviet Union as a national and global threat, they also sought to operationalize their anti-Sovietism for their broader political agenda. Second, Islamists effectively committed to the Western bloc during the period, but this commitment was replaced by anti-Westernism particularly from the mid-1960s onwards. Third, they substantially discussed decolonization with Pakistan, Palestine, and Algeria at the forefront, but their treatment of decolonization oscillated between glorification and devaluation and never paved the way for a Third-Worldist approach. Fourth, while pan-Islamism had an important place in their thinking, it came along with a commitment to the states-system as well as Turkey's Cold War alliance, a retreat from classical Islamic concepts, and a conception of Turkish exceptionalism. In so doing, this article shows how the course of the Cold War shaped Islamism. It also demonstrates the pragmatism and eclecticism of Islamism. It is equally evident that Islamism was developed in interaction with, not in opposition to, nationalism and the discourse of national interest.This article will discuss the early discourse of Islamism on international politics in Cold War Turkey. It brings forth four main findings. First, while Islamists bandwagoned onto the discourse of the Turkish state and the Western bloc in presenting the Soviet Union as a national and global threat, they also sought to operationalize their anti-Sovietism for their broader political agenda. Second, Islamists effectively committed to the Western bloc during the period, but this commitment was replaced by anti-Westernism particularly from the mid-1960s onwards. Third, they substantially discussed decolonization with Pakistan, Palestine, and Algeria at the forefront, but their treatment of decolonization oscillated between glorification and devaluation and never paved the way for a Third-Worldist approach. Fourth, while pan-Islamism had an important place in their thinking, it came along with a commitment to the states-system as well as Turkey's Cold War alliance, a retreat from classical Islamic concepts, and a conception of Turkish exceptionalism. In so doing, this article shows how the course of the Cold War shaped Islamism. It also demonstrates the pragmatism and eclecticism of Islamism. It is equally evident that Islamism was developed in interaction with, not in opposition to, nationalism and the discourse of national interest.