Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, speaks to the drastically changing religious climate in Turkey brought forth by conservative and determined Prime Minister Erdogan:
Just as Ataturk molded Turkey in his rigidly secular and Western image because he could, Erdogan will remake Turkey to match his image of rigid social conservatism and Islamic identity.
Domestically, this means a blend of government-imposed social conservatism and popular will. An example of this occurred days after the AKP’s victory in the June national assembly elections; officials of the AKP-run Istanbul city government raided downtown drinking establishments and banned outdoor tables (and, hence, publicly serving alcohol). The change prevents potential “sins” in the public eye.
Overnight, drinking disappeared from parts of downtown Istanbul.
In Erdoganist Turkey, the line between public morality and religious values will blur, and the government’s popular power will make opposition impossible.
Read more about the religious and political “reshaping of Turkey.”