Moderation has been a central issue in the studies of political parties and also political movements while earlier focused on socialist and religious parties in Western Europe. Following the legacy of this literature, scholarly works on the Middle East suggested that Islamist movements moderate when they are included into the political system. However, recent works argued that while inclusion-moderation thesis is valuable, inclusion is not the only way for moderation. In this paper, I examine the moderation of Turkish Justice and Development Party (JDP) to a more center-right position from a pro-Islamist party platform in its first years. Contrary to earlier works, I argue that not the inclusion but the exclusion of the movement from the system by the military intervention and party bans led party to embrace a more moderate position. I support my thesis by process tracing of the years of exclusion and content analysis of party programs.
