Mobilization of Muslim Democracy in Turkey

The rise of moderate Islam in Turkey has different interpretations for the Turkish society by shaping identity politics and cultural norms around diverse political mobilization. However, such ideological and terminological diversities among Turkish political parties and their voters create polarization within the Turkish society that also effects democratization process in Turkey. For secularists moderate Islam is a threat against secular, laicist and democratic traditions of modern Turkish identity whereas for conservatives, Islamic movement can be defined as a common cultural norm that binds Turkish people under the process of a socially constructed approach and help to politically mobilize citizens around their ideological orientations. The rise of Adalet and Kalkınma Partisi (also known as AK party, AKP ) and increasing support to the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the period of Turkish Constitutional Referendum in 2017 also confirms this increased political and institutional mobilization of Turkish society around Islamic identity construction and the change of perceptions towards any opposition. Through focusing on constructivism and content analysis of political mobilization during Turkish Constitutional Referendum in 2017 this paper aims to illustrate that there is a direct linkage between Turkish culture/identity formations and political mobilization of Turkey around moderate Islam/ in other words to the current administration of AKP.