Turkey's Islamic Democratic Experiment

# Turkey's AKP Victory (2002) and Political Islam

The victory of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) in Turkey's general elections of 3 November 2002 CE (27 Sha'ban 1423 AH) was a landmark moment in the history of political Islam. For the first time, a party with Islamic roots won an outright parliamentary majority in Turkey — the largest Muslim-majority democracy in Europe and a NATO member — and formed a government that ruled the country for over two decades.

Background

Turkey had been governed since the founding of the Republic in 1923 CE by a strict secularist ideology (Kemalism), which among other things required that public life be stripped of overt Islamic expression. The military had repeatedly intervened to remove governments or parties it considered insufficiently secularist, including the forced removal of the Islamist Welfare Party government in 1997 CE (the "postmodern coup").

By 2002, Turkey was experiencing economic turmoil following a severe financial crisis in 2001 CE, and the established political parties had been discredited by corruption scandals and economic mismanagement. Into this vacuum stepped the newly founded AKP.

The AKP's Origins and Character

The AKP was founded in 2001 CE by Recep Tayyip Erdogan (who had been imprisoned for publicly reciting an Islamic poem while Mayor of Istanbul), Abdullah Gül, and other figures who had broken from the Islamist Virtue Party. Unlike its predecessors, the AKP presented itself as a "conservative democratic" party rather than an explicitly Islamist one — analogous, it claimed, to Christian democratic parties in Europe.

The party explicitly accepted Turkey's secular constitutional order, EU membership aspirations, and NATO commitments. It argued that Islamic values — family, community, honesty, social justice — were compatible with democratic governance and modern economics.

The 2002 Victory

In the November 2002 elections, the AKP won 34.3% of the popular vote but, due to Turkey's 10% electoral threshold, obtained 363 of 550 parliamentary seats — a supermajority enabling it to govern alone. All other established parties failed to pass the threshold.

Since Erdogan was initially barred from serving as Prime Minister due to his previous conviction, Abdullah Gül became Prime Minister briefly before a by-election allowed Erdogan to enter parliament and assume the premiership in 2003 CE.

Early Governance

The AKP's early years in government were marked by:

• Significant economic growth and stabilization
• Active pursuit of EU membership, including substantial democratic reforms
• Expansion of freedom of religious expression
• Maintenance of relations with the United States and Israel
• Strong relations with other Muslim-majority countries

The AKP's governance confounded both its secular Turkish critics, who expected an Islamist revolution, and its Western critics, who were skeptical of a party with Islamic roots. For a decade, Turkey was held up internationally as a model of democratic Islam.

Later Developments

The AKP's trajectory after 2010 became increasingly controversial. Under Erdogan (who became President in 2014 CE), the party was accused of democratic backsliding, suppression of press freedom, concentration of executive power, and increasingly authoritarian governance. The failed coup attempt of 2016 CE led to a massive purge of the military, judiciary, and civil service, and constitutional changes in 2017 CE dramatically expanded presidential powers.

Turkey's relationship with the EU deteriorated, and its relations with Western partners became strained over issues including the purchase of Russian missile defense systems.

Significance

The AKP experience remains one of the most debated examples of political Islam in practice. It raised questions about whether parties with Islamic cultural roots can govern secular democratic states while maintaining democratic norms, and about the durability of democratic commitments when power becomes entrenched.

For observers of the Muslim world, Turkey's experience illustrated both the possibilities and the risks of Islamically-oriented parties competing within democratic systems.

Sources

• Ziya Onis, "The Political Economy of Turkey's Justice and Development Party"
• Ahmet Kuru and Alfred Stepan (eds.), Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey
• Soner Cagaptay, The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey
• Jeremy Salt, The Unmaking of the Middle East