Under the Banner of Islam: Turks, Kurds, and the Limits of Religious Unity, by GÜLAY TÜRKMEN

Abstract

Using the Kurdish conflict in Turkey as a case study, Gülay Türkmen’s book investigates why, in a “post-secular” world, religion often falls short as a means of resolving ethnic conflicts among coreligionists. More specifically, the book probes why the “Muslim fraternity” project launched by the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) in the early 2010s was unable to bridge the ethnic divide between Turks and Kurds, both of whom are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Focusing on the role of religious elites as potential mediators in religiously homogeneous ethnic conflicts, Türkmen bases her work primarily on interviews with Turkish (n = 18) and Kurdish (n = 44) religious leaders. In addition, she utilizes analysis of newspaper articles and participant observation in “Civil Friday Prayers” organized by clerics affiliated with the Kurdish movement.1 Drawing on these data, Türkmen argues that the variation in how Turkish and Kurdish religious elites conceptualize religious and ethnic identities constitutes an important reason why they have failed to unite “under the banner of Islam” and mobilize mass support for the peace process.