Abdullah Gül and the Making of the New Turkey by Gerald MacLean (review)

Turkey have similar characteristics in terms of discrimination. For instance, the closure of places, which serve alcoholic beverages, is provided as evidence for intrusion on the mode of modern life and discrimination against secular people. In fact, using alcohol is a determinant in marginalizing either secularist or religious people in Turkey. Alcohol consumption has also been seen as a social must for certain occupations and situations for a long time in Turkey. Discussing the similarities between these cases of repression in their analysis would enable the authors to identify the difficulties in embracing differences in Turkey. Instead, the secular nature of the public sphere is blessed in the book; therefore, the actions of religious people and the AKP government are seen as the signs of repression. To prove this, the research focuses on certain examples such as Friday prayers, the Holy Birth Week of the Prophet (Kutlu Doğum Haftası), the activities of cemaat, and the closure of places serving alcoholic drinks. Both the critiques of the book and Toprak’s response to them in the last section reveal difficulties in appraising and presenting interpretive research in Turkey, which is based on data collected through in-depth-interviews. The book contributes to interpretive research in Turkey, illustrating the disappointments of some groups. Although it fails to analyze the underlying reasons of marginalization and its perennial patterns in Turkey, the book should be seen as a significant attempt to identify the problem of being other in Turkey, and its suggestions to overcome the polarization between secularist and religious groups need to be taken into consideration by both politicians and scholars. Ayşe Güç Işık Ankara Sosyal Bilimler University doi:10.2979/jottturstuass.2.2.17 Gerald MacLean. Abdullah Gül and the Making of the New Turkey. London: Oneworld Publications, 2014. 368 pp. Cloth, £35.00. ISBN: 978-1-78074-562-6. Turkey is going through one of the darkest periods in the country’s modern history. The main force behind the present breakdown of democratic institutions is the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, president since August 2014; the same cadres that for more than a decade led Turkey on the road to promising reforms. One of the top personalities behind AKP’s initial success was Abdullah Gül, prime minister: November 2002 to March 2003; foreign minister: 2003 to 2007; and 442 Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, Vol. 2.2 president: 2007 to 2014. Gül’s contributions have now been documented in a biography written by Gerald MacLean. The book is well-grounded and begins with the social and cultural environment of Gül’s home base Kayseri, a historical city some 300 km southeast of Ankara. After the establishment of the modern republic, the city became the center of Turkey’s aviation industry. A major upswing occurred with Turgut Özal’s neo-liberal policies of the 1980s. Kayseri, together with cities such as Denizli, Gaziantep, Konya and Malatya, has become known as one of “the Anatolian Tigers.” Except for a longish stay as researcher at the Islamic Development Bank in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1983–91), Gül has lived close to Turkish politics. Consequently, this biography gives an excellent overview of Turkey’s postwar history, especially the pro-Islamic movement. The book provides a vivid picture of its youth culture, where the poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904– 83), nationalist and Islamist, emerged as a figurehead for the young Muslim intellectuals of the 1960s and 1970s. In Gül’s case, however, two years of language training in Britain (1976–78) deepened his understanding of individual rights and privileges, the rule of law and liberal democratic institutions . His stay in London and Exeter also meant that he met Muslims from around the world, encounters that broadened his view of Islam. Concerning contemporary political history, the most interesting chapters deal with Gül’s years as an active member of government, specifically as prime minister and foreign minister. It is during these years (2002–7) that the image of “the new Turkey” emerges: improved relations with the EU; zero-conflict with neighboring...