Islam, Modernity, Military and the Gülen Movement: Turkey's Search for Clarity Amidst Ambiguity

Abstract

The three books under review enlighten different aspects of Turkey's turbulent relationship with Islam, secularism, modernity, democracy, and military. While one of them is an edited book that includes critical articles of renowned scholars, the other two focus on the highly controversial Turkish Gülen Movement. By virtue of their topics and regarding the positions they take, these works not only indicate the main political and social divisions in Turkey, but also shed light on recent debates in Turkish politics. Describing the main themes of the works and indicating what they mean in the Turkish political and social context, this review essay calls attention to the increasing ambiguity of distinguishing right from wrong, even when it comes to seemingly veritable information, in Turkey. This article points out the polarized atmosphere in the country, which can be perceived from the arguments raised in the books under review as well, and asks, “who decides on the exception?” and “what is the minimum criteria for consistency for political analysis in a fiercely contested political environment?”