National Outlook Movement on Democracy, West, Interfaith Dialogue, Minorities and the State

Abstract

Until 1993 the WP had sent confusing messages to both secularists and suspicious masses who wonder about the real intention of the NOM’s offspring. When Erbakan had manifested a kind of pluralistic opening for Kurds, Alevis and others, the fear of Islamic state had been partly faded away. The spelling out the concept of ‘multiple legal orders’ which technically means ‘the freedom of individuals to live by the legal order that corresponds to their beliefs’ bears a remarkable indication appeasing the secularists an suspicious ones. During the periods when he WP was in opposition, it was not creating much fear for the secularists and suspicious masses. However, once the WP had won many mayorships in important cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Kayseri, the actions and speeches of the WP’s mayors had caused frustrations for many secularists and large masses.