Research paper supervisor:Dr.Seku Conde
Minzu University of China
2007-2008 Academic Year
 
Abstract: The topic about Islam and democracy is very interesting. The relationship between Islam and democracy in the contemporary world is complex, they appear in some papers always contradict with each other; they can not co-exist in a country or a society. On the contrary, in fact it is another matter in Turkey.
Democracy is one universal system, but the democratization is long-term and complex historical process. Islam and democracy contradict to a deep level, but they also have the possibility to be in harmony. On the one hand, As the form of the combination institution of politics and religion, Islam has the basic opposition with the democracy in the theory and the practice; on the other hand, if it does not interfere the state power, and only is the individual belief of citizens, Islam not only has the possibility to coexist with the democracy, but also can go on the track of sound progress under the protection of democracy. Looking from the Turkish democratic development process, separation of church and state and secularization are the preconditions for the coexistence of Islam and democracy. In the process of separation of church and state, secularization as well as the democratization, the relationship of Islam and democracy develops from contradiction to be harmony will be a long-term process, also will be complicated, hard and dangerous.
Key words: democratization, secularization, Islam, democracy, Turkey
Ⅰ. Introduction
In the international academic circle, most scholars keep negative toward Islamic world; they keep the suspicion of whether the Islamic Middle East can achieve the system of democracy or not for a long time, so-called “exceptionalism”. On the one hand, the overwhelming majority of scholars in the study of democratization rarely discussed the Middle East region. According to a survey about the research situation in the Middle East in 1990, Western scholars in the field of research even don’t talk about political liberalization, and say nothing of democracy. Even some western scholars and ideologues have tried to present Islam as anti-democratic and inherently authoritarian. By misrepresenting Islam in this way they seek to prove that Islam has a set of values inferior to western liberalism and is a barrier to the global progress of civilization.【1】On the other hand, the Middle East Islamic countries directly deny the possibility of the implementation of democratization. Many scholars believe that democratization in the Middle East region is an exception, even when a sentence appears "democracy" and "the Middle East," these terms, it will cause deep concern.【2】Many Muslim activists, consider democracy to be the rule of humans as opposed to Islam, which is rule of God. Those who reject democracy falsely assume that secularism and democracy are necessarily connected. But secularism is not a prerequisite for democracy; religion can play a significant role in democratic politics, as it does in the United States.【3】American political scientist Samuel Huntington[①] has pointed out that "the failure of free and democratic system in the Islamic countries is universal since the end of the 19th century, and it is a recurring phenomenon for a whole century. He has also taken "cultural propositions" to look through the world outside the Western countries; he has arranged the various cultures in a sequence according to their relationship with democracy: the Protestant, the Catholic, the Orthodox, the Confucianism, the Islam and the black African culture. He said "Islam and Confucian culture are insurmountable obstacles to the proper development of democracy.【4】
Another important concept associated with democracy and Islam is democratization, it typically means that the government operation tends to "people's rule" so as to achieve effective political participation of citizens and to monitor and control government power. On the way of governing, democratization mainly refers to the specific process from authoritative regime to the limited democratic regime and then to the democratic regime. In the 1990s, political scientist David • Porter has pointed out that democratization is a process of political changes, "from less to more responsible government in charge of the government, from less or simply not competitive elections to the more free and fair competitive elections, from the severe restrictions on human rights and political rights to better protect these rights, from the weak or simply no autonomic groups to the full enjoyment of autonomy or the large number of groups (or civil society). "Democracy is human common appealing. As the main content of political modernization, democratization has become the political realities in many countries.
   Are democracy and Islam incompatible with each other? Whether the two might reconcile with each other? If so, how will they reconcile with each other?  We are able to understand and explain all these questions from Turkey where democratization processes properly, as one of the Eastern countries.
Ⅱ.The Developmental Process of Turkey’s Democracy
Turkey crosses Asia and Europe two continents, is located between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Turkey was deeply affected by Islam for a long time. Turkey was basically in the situation of the combination institution of politics and religion before the Republic of Kemal, Islam influenced and controlled the state power is no different from many Islamic countries at present. Nowadays, Turkey is a democratic country. Before the 1960s, the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey formulated: “Turkey is a republican, populist, civilian, nationalistic, secular and revolutionary country.【5】In 1982, the third part of the Constitution formulated: Turkey is a national, democratic, secular country and implements the national legal system; Grand National Assembly is the supreme legislative organization, and implements universal direct elections. Today, Islam has achieved better continuity and development as the belief of individual citizens in Turkey, and among more than 70 million Turkish there are 98 percent residents are Muslim.
Looking at the secular and democratic process in Turkey, the struggle between Islam, secularism and democracy has never stopped. Its prosperity begins from the separation of the church and religion and secularization step by step, and democratization is the destination of its development.
As early as in the period of Ottoman Empire in Turkey, the empire carried out the combination constitution of politics and religion, Islam is one of its main supporters. Its largest mark is the supreme ruler of the largest collection of Sudan and the Caliph in a dual role, that is, he not only is the secular leadership of the Ottoman Empire but also is agent and the spiritual leader of all Muslims of "Allah" in the world. The Ottoman Empire has gradually moved towards the road of westernization and modernization which also is the start of Western military. In the year of 1839-1876, the Tangzi Matignon (Tanzimat: reform) was the era of the late Ottoman Empire, when was the flourishing period of modernization and  Western-oriented reform, which further improved the institutional division of the empire and work efficiency. Beside the Islamic religious system, the fields of legal and education established the secular system basically; the first secular-oriented reform reached the peak in the Imperial history.【6】In the subsequent year 1876, although constitution ushered Paula Abdul’s 30-year long term dictatorship in Sudan, not only the direction of secularism has not changed, but also creates the favorable conditions for the reformers of youth Turkey after 1908 to reform. The reformers tried to end the binary opposition between secularism and religion in the political, legal and education and other social spheres and achieve reunification on the basis of secularism. At the same time there is only a step away from the separation of church and state and the establishment of secular country. Kemal established the republic of Turkey in 1923 and fulfilled the construction of secular country that the church and state are separated according to secularity at last. Although Turkey can not be treated as a modern and democratic country at this time, not only he has controlled the Islam’s strict limitation on regime effectively, and then to promote the progress and maintenance of the secularization effectively, but also laid a solid foundation for Turkey to transition to a multiparty system after World War II and achieve a constitutional democracy.
Here need to be especially pointed out is that secularization plays an irreplaceable role in the process of democratization in the Islamic country. The establishment of democracy can not be succeed if do not break the system of politics and religion. If the establishment of a democratic government becomes a possibility for the external assistance, but it will be difficult to maintain for a long time under the threatening of religion. Therefore, the democratization of Turkey can not be separated from the protection of secularism. Because reformers and the subsequent reformers began to treat the West as the study example in the late period of the Ottoman Empire, democratization will become the goal and direction that dominate the secular movement, at the same time of secularization. Therefore, it can be said that secularism and democracy are two important factors lead to Turkey in the process of modernization.
Ⅲ.The Relationship between Islam and Democracy in Turkey
The movement of secularism and democracy continued for more than a century since its beginning [...]

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