Islamic non-governmental organizastion in the context ofreligin-political relations: The sample of the Akdeniz Dayanışma Platformu (ADAP)

There is a very rich literature on the subject of religion and politics, each as an independent subject and with periodic content. On the other hand, on the basis of relationality, the relationship between religion and politics is both an ancient and a modern issue with its problematic dimension and social organization produced by this relation. Especially in the process of modernity, with the weakening of the effectiveness of religion in social life and administrative power, this problematic area seems to have become even more complex. In this comparison, the ancient theme is associated with the function of legitimization. However, the most intense discussions regarding the relationship between religion and politics as an issue is related to the process of modernity. It is obvious that processes such as the Renaissance, reform, the industrial revolution, modernity, enlightenment, and the French Revolution are mainly related to the radical changes in social life, which have certain religious intensities. The conceptual set in which the relationship between religion and politics is discussed consists of mainly the concepts as the state, secularism, civil society, caliphate and positive law. Together with the periods of modernity, while both the impact of the state on social life and the intervention of religion into the political sphere have been discussed; under the sample of civil society organizations, it has been tried to be expressed the demands of Islamism regarding the religion-centered social and political sphere. Our thesis aims to analyze the relationship between religion and politics in the sample of Islamic non-governmental organizations having a cultural or political toned Islamism paradigm. The Mediterranean Solidarity Platform (ADAP), which was formed by 24 different NGOs centered in Antalya, was chosen as the purposive sampling. Data were collected with a semi-structured interview technique from 23 people who actively participated in the platform activities and were in the decision-making position of the platform, and the obtained data were analyzed descriptively. From these organizations, which are called Islamist NGOs, data were collected about the content of activities, identity definitions, state perceptions, relations with the state in the provision of financial resources, positions on political processes, perceptions of secularism and caliphate, February 28 era, and relations with the current government. It's observed that the concepts of Islamism, conservatism and nationalism come to the fore in the identity statements of the platform members; and that platforms' discourses overlap with the current social agenda and political power while aiming to determine their own discourses independently. Keywords: Civil Society, Religion-Politics, Islamist NGO, Mediterranean Solidarity Platform