The Hizmet movement and participatory democracy

GÖKHAN BACIK
GÖKHAN BACIK


Date posted: February 9, 2014

GÖKHAN BACIK

The differences between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Hizmet movement have become critically important since the graft probe of Dec. 17. The government quickly declared that there was no corruption. According to the government, Dec. 17 saw an organized attack meant to topple the government. However, almost all public surveys confirm that at least 65 percent of Turkish people disagree with the government, and believe that the graft probe that was made public that day addressed a corruption issue.

However, to see how the Hizmet movement and the AK Party differ requires an analytical perspective. The Islam versus Kemalism binary of the previous decades shadowed an equal binary between Islamism (political Islam) and the Hizmet/Gülen movement (social Islam). The theoretical bases of these two trends are different. Their harmony during the past decade forged their artificial alliance in response to the Kemalist “threat.” Personally speaking, the separation of the two is positive, despite some short-term fluctuations.

Indeed, the AK Party government is a legitimate power, despite its serious authoritarian tendencies. However, the Hizmet movement’s objection to the AK Party’s rising Islamism is an important analytical factor in understanding the formation of the policies in Turkish politics. For example, the Hizmet group argues that Turkey should have good relations with the major Western institutions, such as the EU. It does not propose that the state should be an agent of Islamization. It does not endorse the government’s cutting relations with some states. One could propose a longer list of differences.

Meanwhile, the Hizmet movement’s objections make an important contribution to the formation of participatory democracy in Turkey. So far, Turkish democracy was a game among political parties in the absence of a strong civil society and market actors.

Political theorist Benjamin R. Barber, who is known for his participatory-democracy approach, defines strong democracy as a democratic theory that advances the role of robust democratic citizenship over formal constitutional mechanisms and is particularly attentive to civic participation, civic education and a vibrant civil society.

On this line of thinking, the rise of the Hizmet movement is a key positive factor in enhancing a participatory model of democracy in Turkey.

So far, the conventional argument requires the establishment of a political party that proposes arguments about Turkish politics. Yet that is in fact what has made Turkey a graveyard of parties, all of them small groups that had believed they should become parties to talk about politics. The Hizmet movement stands as one of the first civic movements that are not organized along a political-party format.

Moving in parallel with the conventional argument, some argue today that the Hizmet movement should establish its own party. I disagree. A strong civil society movement that changes its political-party affiliations is better. The competition between political parties can sometimes radicalize their politics. In such cases, influential social movements have important roles.

Each political party in Turkey has its affiliated unions, media and professional unions. Thus the rise of new, autonomous social movements that reject full affiliation with a political party is rare in Turkey. That is why some have difficulty with understanding the Hizmet movement’s position in contemporary Turkish politics.

There is also the issue of transparency. The Hizmet movement’s activism creates a huge public debate about itself. In practice, there are many other religious social movements in Turkey that are also influential, but they lack an equal level of transparency. As an oft-debated movement, the Hizmet movement is under the pressure of regular interrogation. In other words, debating the Hizmet movement is good, as that puts it under pressure that calls for more transparency. Activism creates public interest and debate that require more transparency of any social movement.

Source: Todays Zaman , February 9, 2014


Related News

Dehumanize me Turkish-style — no comment

Following the Dec. 17 and 25 corruption investigations implicating Cabinet ministers and senior members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his inner circle and pro-AK Party media have launched a concerted, collective and comprehensive dehumanization strategy against Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement. What follows is a snippet of the type of language used without comment, as comment is not needed.

A Turkish coup, a family torn apart, a dramatic escape on foot: ‘Can you believe the things we went through?’

She could stay in Turkey where she might end up imprisoned, at risk of torture and sexual assault, and separated from her young children. Or she could take them on a dangerous journey, with no guarantee of survival.

Divided republic of RTE

The most recent example of the division is reflected at the social level. A realtor put a sign on his shop saying, “Followers of the Gülen movement are not allowed to do business in this shop.” Pro-Erdoğan journalists, instead of condemning the shop owner, thanked him. This is a typical hate crime promoted by Erdoğan and his close associates.

Stop doing Erdogan’s dirty work, Freedom centre tells Malaysia

Stockholm Centre of Freedom (SCF) has called on the Malaysian government to halt its dirty bidding on behalf of the growingly repressive Turkish government led by President Recep Erdogan, following the arrest and deportation of three Turkish nationals from Kuala Lumpur.

PM Erdoğan: Internet bill protesters are defenders of immorality

Media outlets ran stories based on leaked voice recordings and the documents of a second probe, which has been stalled since Dec. 25, 2014, when the government started removing or reassigning thousands of police officers and police chiefs as well as the prosecutors carrying out the investigation. The press has since reported that the depths of corruption within the government is actually a lot bigger than initially assumed.

Int’l press organizations call for release of journalist Keneş, condemn arrest

New York-based press advocacy group the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Turkish authorities to immediately release Today’s Zaman Editor-in-Chief Bülent Keneş, condemning the arrest as a “relentless crackdown” on the press.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

The story of the boy who cried wolf

The Shadow Politics of Shadow Education

Time for win-win in trade for Turkey, Portugal

Minister says ‘parallel state’ claims not realistic, cites lack of evidence

Book Review: Faith, Theology and Service in Peacebuilding

Thunder’s Enes Kanter in London after detainment in Romania over politics

TÜBİTAK official says forced to make changes to bugging device report

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News