ABSTRACT
These developments clearly signified a softening in the official attitudes. In March 1950, shortly before the first really democratic elections in Turkish history, twenty of the sanctuaries which had been closed in 1925 were opened again for prayer. 3 The liberalization was further accelerated after the elections. In June 1950, one month after the Democratic Party had celebrated its great election victory, the law from 1933 requiring the ezan (call for prayer) to be read in Turkish, rather than Arabic the 1960s under Siileyman Demirel were willing to compromise with the Islamic groups, which meant that the official attitude towards Islam had softened a great deal. A sign of this reconciliation was that a pro-Islamic political party could be set up in 1969, in spite of the fact that the law forbidding "the use of Islam for political purposes,,4 was still in force. The National Order Party (1969-1971), also known as the National Salvation Party (1972-1981), and the Welfare Party (since 1983) are
different names for the same political movement led by Necmettin Erbakan, now an old veteran in Turkish politics.
