The Enduring Hold of Islam in Turkey: The Revival of the Religious Orders and the Rise of Erdoğan
A new history of modern Turkey, focussing on its fifty-year retreat from Kemalist secularism.
Description
This is the first account in English of how Islamic religious orders dating back to Ottoman times have risen to dominate and define the future of Turkey, Europe’s awkward neighbour and the major power in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Given its determined programme of secularising the people both under and after the Atatürk regime, Turkey is often projected as a model for the compatibility of Islam with parliamentary democracy. In this absorbing book, journalist and writer David S. Tonge reveals the limitations of that secularisation, and its progressive reversal, in what continues to be a profoundly religious country. He describes how Muslim Turks’ religious identity has been taken over by branches of one of Islam’s great religious orders, the Naqshbandis, whose profoundly anti-Western ethos was honed by British and French colonial incursions into the heartland of their faith.
Tonge’s history offers a salutary alternative to the wishful narrative developed by Western chancelleries during the Cold War, one which viewed Turkey as a westernising democracy. The revival of both Turkish nationalism and Islam helped President Erdoğan’s rise to power, and will shape the regime that succeeds him—illuminating and understanding Turkey’s realities of faith and religious politics has never been more important.
Reviews
Excellent... Tonge is an astute commentator who navigates the thorns of Turkish politics, identity and spiritual beliefs sympathetically and authoritatively... Tonge has done a wonderful job in reminding us that it is not individuals that matter in history, but the institutions that provide the pillars on which power is built. (Full review)
— Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads & The Earth Transformed, Financial Times
This is an important analysis... David Tonge brings to this subject a distinguished journalistic career and the experience of living in Turkey, on and off, for 60 years. He draws on a large body of academic and press analysis as well as his observations and statistics to describe the origins, beliefs, and structures of the many 'tarikat' or religious orders that were a pillar of the Ottoman system. (Full review)
— Sir John Goulden, former ambassador to Ankara, RSAA’s Asian Affairs
‘Few outsiders are as qualified as Tonge to have written a contemporary history of Islam in Turkey. His book provides extraordinary insight into the religious underpinnings of Turkish society and politics. In the oft-bewildering era of Erdoğan, this puts a lot of things in their place. This is bound to be a precious resource for scholars of Islam, and of Turkey, for years to come.’
— Jon Lee Anderson, staff writer, The New Yorker
‘Fascinating; an unknown world. Well-paced and nicely written, this may well become required reading for a range of people with a professional interest in Turkey and Islam.’
— Giles Merritt, author and commentator on Europe
‘“Mabrouk” (Congratulations)’
— David Gardner, former Foreign International Affairs Editor, Financial Times
‘Meticulously researched and beautifully written, in clear and lively prose. This traces the history of the opaque religious communities who continue to hold real sway to this day–but whose influence is often under-appreciated by outside observers.’
— Laura Pitel, former Ankara correspondent, Financial Times
‘A very well-written and enjoyable book–of great relevance, importance and topicality.’
— Iradj Bagherzade, founder of IB Tauris and iB2 Media
‘An unparalleled exploration of the intricate relationship between Islam and the socio-political landscape of Turkey. A must-read for scholars, students and anyone interested in the dynamic interplay between religion and state in a rapidly changing world.’
— Ahmet Erdi Öztürk, Associate Professor in International Relations and Politics, London Metropolitan University
To order The Enduring Hold of Islam in Turkey, please go to purchase here: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-enduring-hold-of-islam-in-turkey/