터키의 세속주의와 이슬람주의의 갈등

A Study on the Conflict between Secularism and Islamism in Turkey: The Protests in Taksim Gezi Park

In May 2013, an anti-government protest around the development of a small park named Gezi Park marked an important event in the history of the clash between secularism and Islamism in Turkey, as it turned into an all-out conflict. Turkey, the successor to the Ottoman Empire, maintained Islamic traditions. However, while the Republican People's Party founded by Mustafa Kamal Attatürk set Islam as the state religion, it was later replaced by a secularist socio-political system according to the separation of the religion and state. Turkey had been sticking to secularism, but tried to return to Islamism through several reforms of policies. However, at each attempt, it was prevented by military intervention in politics, eventually going back to secularism. Erdoğan, appointed in 2002 as Turkish Prime Minister, is trying to return to Islamism using his wide popular support. It seems that an inevitable clash emerged during this process. The purpose of the present study is to look into the long-time enmity and conflict between secularism and Islamism in Turkey through the survey of the development of the Turkish protests.