The transformation of the Islamist political discourse after 1990s

Islamism thought and movement in Turkey, as some features may be seen as a subset of other Islamist movements, but differs from them in some features. The most important of these differences emerges in the perception of the state and relations with the state. In this study, the history of Islamism in Turkey is divided into four periods, especially from the point of view of the state. Accordingly, Islamism has gone through the stages of save the state, losing interest to the state, establish state since the mid-19th century, and recently the idea of transforming the state has become dominant. In this study, the last period, which was codified as the fourth term and defined as transforming the state, was examined. Anlayış, Bilgi ve Düşünce, Gerçek Hayat, Haksöz, İktibas, Özgün Düşünce, Özgün İrade, Söz ve Adalet, Sözleşme, Tezkire and Umran journals that started or continued to be published in this period were scanned with this perspective and the discourses of Islamists were analyzed. Some of the arguments of different approaches were used, such as that Islamism died, articulated to the state, became authoritarian, became conservative or progressively increased during the AK Party administrations. But also a new theoretical perspective was proposed. In this approach, which is built around the concepts of the izzet arayışı (quest for dignity) and islah (reform/improvement), it is claimed that the dimension of the quest for dignity has become dominant and the reform/improvement dimension has been neglected in this period. As Islamists neglect the method of reform/improvement, new problem areas have emerged. The trajectory of Islamism in Turkey will be determined by the shape of the balance between the quest for dignity and reform/improvement.