Moderation of Assertive Secularism: Turkish Muslims in Politics

This paper entails that assertive secularism—the basis of communitarian ideology in Turkey—creates a dilemma of democratization. The policies regulating Muslim identity hinder democracy while blocking movements that might reverse democratization. For higher level of democracy, the religious market should be liberalized. This has been partially achieved due to the increasing cost of suppressing religion. Since early 1980s, various changes softened assertive secularism. The emergence of new conditions affecting the regulation of religious identity is discussed. It is concluded that public sphere should be isolated from any sort of explicit positive endorsement of any doctrine—including secularism—for democratization