A consideration of the state-society relationship in Turkey after 1980 in the context of the liberalization of Islamism: An analysis within the framework of Girişim Journal

This thesis focuses on debates around state and society in Turkey in the context of liberalization tendencies in post-1980 Islamic thought. The study aims to narrow down the focus on Girişim journal, which was once one of the prominent actors in terms of Islamic thought after the 80s. The thesis attempts to shed light upon the breaks and continuities in Islamist thought in terms of certain concepts discussed on Girişim. While the abovementioned journals are critical in terms of reading the era, they are also noteworthy in terms of giving a direction to the discussions. Among the Islamist journals, the journal of Girişim, which has a high representative power and not been studied enough, focused on terms such as "Islamic state", "ummah", "Islamic unity", "freedom", "individual", "democracy and consultation", "change", "pluralism" after 1980. Rich discussions have taken place around these concepts. The study was conducted with the content analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The main hypothesis of the thesis is to demonstrate that Islamist thought became liberal in terms of discourse, not economics, after 1980, and a more moderate stage was passed from harsh-radical discourses on issues such as democracy and freedoms.