ABSTRACT
The virtue party closure marked a major split within the National Outlook Movement (NOM), which had important consequences for political Islam in Turkey. The religious vocabulary used by the National Outlook parties was in tune with the ideological tendencies of the movement's activists and supporters. The activists and elites in the Welfare Party (WP) distinguished themselves from others by expressing high levels of commitment to Islamic ideology. The WP activist explains the socioeconomic consequences of rural-urban migration and the need to implement social security nets to manage the demographic changes. It uses the control of municipalities to deliver essential social and material services to residents. The NOM's aims to create a "just international order" based on Islamic precepts reveals that the movement's religious project is not confined to national boundaries. The relationship between the WP and democratic governance has been multifaceted and shows parallels to the Shas experience.
