Narratives on Religion-State Relations in Turkey: Continuities and Discontinuities

Abstract

This article investigates the trajectories of conflicting narratives that describe religion-state relations in Turkey. It explores the main tenets of the secular-religious polarization perspective (SRPP) that has been dominant until recently. It argues that while the SRPP is losing its hegemony in the field of academia, it has enduring power in the political field. The paper also contributes to the literature by discussing the ways in which the SRPP has been instrumentalized for political purposes in both domestic and international contexts by hegemonic political powers, including the ruling party, the AKP, in Turkey.