The Dismantling of Kemalist Guardianship in Turkey

This chapter examines the power struggle in Turkey between the Kemalist guardians and their Islamist opponents during the 2000s. The post-modern guardianship that the military to put in place in the 1990s proved to be short lived. Coming to power in 2002 and enlisting the support of a coalition of liberals, conservatives and Kurds at home, and both the US and the EU abroad, the AKP government succeeded in disassembling Kemalist tutelage following a bitter power struggle that contested the boundaries of rule of law and democratic politics. The defeat of the guardians came about gradually, through the course of three general elections, the EU-backed institutional reforms, one presidential election, two constitutional referenda, and two highly politicised court cases ostensibly against coup plotters, but encompassing a wide range of Kemalist opponents of the government. Of crucial importance to the outcome of this power struggle were the divisions among the guardians regarding the course of action to be taken in response to the changing status quo. These internal disagreements, which reflected a wider division within society between reform and resistance, split open the institutions of guardianship, ultimately benefitting the liberal-Islamist alliance supporting the AKP government.