State-Led Islamization: The Turkish-Islamic Synthesis

After a decade of social disorder and political polarization ended with the military intervention of September 12 1980, Islam was regarded as a unifying tool and introduced in the political agenda of the Kemalist establishment. The Turkish society was re-Islamized from above and Kemalism was reinterpreted in the light of the so-called Turkish-Islamic synthesis promoted by the Aydınlar Ocağı (Intellectuals’ Hearth) a nationalist society, according to which Turkish culture and identity is a mixture of Islamic and Turkish values. Although one of the reasons for the coup d'état was to prevent reactionary Islam, paradoxically Islam became part of the state ideology, paving the way for further Islamization and politicization of religion.