This study examined the relationship between the Turkish Islamic movements and the present government of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AK Party). Since the AK Party came to power in 2002 it implemented unparalleled political reforms and pursued to improve Turkey’s relations with the EU. Opponents argued that because of the dominance of the secular military in Turkish politics, the AK Party is forced to secretly advance its Islamic agenda using the language and symbolism of democracy and human rights. This study argued that the ideas of the AK Party show similarities with the “Ottomanist” thought of the late Ottoman era. With special reference to the preservation of the Ottoman State, Ottomanism in an eclectic way was able to incorporate Islamic principles like freedom, justice and consultation into the political arena which was increasingly dominated by the secular European concepts. Literature on Islam and politics in Turkey, however, disregards the Ottoman roots of freedom and pluralism and tends to reduce the relationship between religion and state into exclusively confrontational struggles. This conceptualization of the political process relies on particular non-Turkish Muslim experiences which do not necessarily represent Islam’s venture in Turkey. Contrary to the prevailing scholarship, Islamic movements in Turkey, namely, Naqshbandi, National View and Nur, which are discussed in detail in this study, are not monolithic. They all uphold the same creedal tenets of Islam but they have sharp differences in terms of how they conceptualize the role of religious agency in politics. I argue that this diversity is a result of three distinct methodologies of Islamic religious life which are the Tariqah (Tarikat), Shariah (Şeriat), and Haqiqah (Hakikat). The differences between these three approaches represent a typological hierarchy in the formation of the Muslim/believer as an agent of Islamic identity. Through these different if not conflicting modes, the AK Party reconnected itself with Turkey’s Ottoman heritage in a post-Ottoman, secular setting and was able to develop an eclectic political identity of Neo-Ottomanism that is evident in the flexibility if not inconsistency of its domestic and foreign policy preferences.

L’essor de mouvements islamistes - ou d’inspiration islamiste - et de leurs activités dans le monde contemporain exige l’étude de leur finalité et de leur rôle. Les discours et activités de ces mouvements, qu’ils fussent sociopolitiques ou religieux, et leur relation avec le monde laïque, sont variables. Le présent travail vise à analyser l’émergence et le développement de l’un de ces mouvements en France, le réseau islamique turc transnational de Fethullah Gülen (GM). La thèse présente d’abord le contexte idéologique et historique dans lequel le mouvement de Gülen s’est développé. L’expérience turque de la laïcité (laiklik) a influencé la forme et la stratégie d’expansion du mouvement à l’étranger, notamment en France où le modernisme turc a influencé une implantation relativement restrictive du modèle français. La thèse s’attache à montrer l’étroite interconnexion qui existe entre les activités éducatives, sociales, culturelles et économiques avec la hiérarchie du mouvement en Turquie et à travers son réseau international. Elle met en lumière les éléments fondamentaux sur lesquels repose le mouvement : ses ressources humaines, ses organisations, ainsi que son pouvoir financier mais explique aussi le rôle de l’idéologie de Gülen dans la mobilisation sociale ainsi que dans ses actions de légitimation. Elle montre que le succès de Gülen en France relève de la subtilité de sa stratégie de développement: le facteur islamique est cultivé dans la sphère privée et soigneusement écarté de la sphère publique. Enfin, le présent travail montre que le mouvement de Gülen est ambigu et il questionne son identité proclamée de mouvement apolitique, alors que le mouvement s’est illustré récemment dans l’arène politique contre le gouvernement turc. La thèse clarifie le développement du mouvement en France sur la base du concept d’Islam apolitique, et le pouvoir de mobilisation de ce dernier, grâce à la théorie de mobilisation des ressources via la structure organisationnelle, ses activités d’adaptation et de légitimation et son réseau et organisation hiérarchique. / The rise of Islamic or Islamic-based movements and their activities in the contemporary world has required studying their aim and role. However, their discourses and activities, either as socio-political or as religious movements and their relation with the secular contemporary world are diverse. The present work aims to analyze the emergence and development of one of these movements in France, the transnational Turkish-Islamic based “Gülen Movement” (GM). The thesis presents first its ideological background and the historical context in which the GM grew. The experience of Turkish secularism (laiklik) influenced the form and the strategy of the GM abroad, especially in France where Turkish modernism influenced a relatively restrictive implementation of the French model. Then, it shows the close interconnection of the GM’s social, cultural educational and business activities in France, and the hierarchy of the Movement and its network at the national and international level. This thesis highlights the fundamental elements on which the Movement lays, human resources, organizations and financial power, and explains the role of the Movement leader’s ideology in human and social mobilization and legitimization activities. It shows that the GM’s success in France is due to a familiar formula in the installation process of its earlier development in Turkey as well as in other countries, and its capacity to balance visibility and invisibility of Islam respectively in the private and the public spheres. Finally, it shows that the GM has an ambiguous identity, and questions the future of a declared non-political movement, which recently illustrated itself in a political battle – still ongoing – with the current Turkish government. The thesis clarifies that the Movement’s development in France has been made possible by explaining the concept of non-political Islam, and its successful mobilization made possible by outlining resource mobilization theory through its opportunity organizational structure, adaptation/legitimization activities, and hierarchical/network organization.

This thesis analyzes the identity of the Nur movement in Turkey from the emic perspective on two levels, the group and the individual. Research was conducted through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with ten university students who identify themselves as Nur students. With regard to group identity, first, the emergence and function of the movement is considered in light of Norbert Elias&#039 / s &quot / Changes in the We-I Balance,&quot / concluding that the movement constitutes an important &quot / survival unit&quot / for the students, for some even taking the place of the nation-state. Second, an attempt is made to define the boundaries that exist vis-a-vis non-adherents, other Islamic groups, and between the sub-groups within the movement itself per Fredrik Barth and Thomas Hylland Eriksen&#039 / s theories. Several important boundary markers are identified including such things as language, dress, value orientations, differing approaches to religion (rational versus imitative or emotional), social involvement, political involvement and attitudes toward the Risale-i Nur. Finally, the impact of the movement on one&#039 / s individual identity is considered, utilizing Richard Jenkins&#039 / s model of the internal-external dialectic. Regarding the external, it was determined that the &quot / outside other&quot / creates the need for identity negotiation and restricted interaction, while the &quot / inside other&quot / prescribes some important values, including education and nationalism. The internal half of the identity dialectic, it was concluded, is significantly shaped by one&#039 / s interaction with the Risale-i Nur.

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