The separation of innovators and traditionalists in the political representation of the Islamic movement: Virtue party and the political picture that emerged after

The purpose of this study is to examine the difference of opinion in scope of the political representation of the Islamic movement in Turkey and the resulting separation as traditionalists and reformists, and to examine the political scene that emerged as the result of the experienced separation. The historical and descriptive research methods are used in the study carried out for this purpose. It is hoped this study will make significant contributions on the studies about Turkish political life in terms of its scope and method; as it focuses on the reasons behind the reformist and traditionalist separation that emerged in "National Vision" tradition that founded the first independent political party of the Islamic movement in Turkey that transferred the Islamic thought inheritance from Ottoman Empire's last period to political struggle. In scope of the study, which is prepared with this purpose and wish, the ideological foundations and the historical course of Islamic thought in Turkey since the last period of Ottoman Empire until MGH, is firstly explained. Then the "National Vision" thought is examined from MNP until RP period; and FP, the political party where the separation occurred, is deeply analyzed and it is tried to discover the reasons of the difference of opinions. The political scene that emerged after the separation at MGH is evaluated in scope of the reformists and the traditionalists, and the political identities where the reformists and traditionalists position themselves are tried to be determined. The political acceptances of the reformist politics with AK Party, which differentiates from the "National Vision" thought, and the ideological foundations of the "conservative-democrat" political identity are examined. The results obtained as the result of the study indicates that, the process that lead to the separation in scope of MGH started during RP period, and the reformist - traditionalist separation symptoms appeared during this period for the first time. The differentiation in the political style that started during RP period turned into an ideological differentiation during FP period, and reached to a dimension that exceeded the leadership and opinions of Erbakan. It is concluded the reformist politics were not the result of a simple internal power struggle within the party and it was the result of a "change-transformation" request coming from the base towards the top and the reformist political style corresponded to the demands and expectations' of not only the base of "National Vision" but also the social segments which were not satisfied with the current political parties with the collapse of central politics in Turkey.