ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book discusses the continuation of a highly sensitive and polarising debate over secularism in Turkey. It shows how political Islam has developed as a statist phenomenon in the country with close-woven relations with the political elite including secularists. The book explores religion becoming even more dominant in the discourse and policy-making of nationalism, while those who would like it to be based on other values such as progressive secularism, constitutionalism, and liberalism might need to wait for a long time. It describes the sad reality of the way that Turkey’s press freedom record has gradually declined under Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi rule, particularly since 2014. The book argues that environmental action might have caused the Gezi protests of 2013 with widespread political ramifications, but environmental policies are not real game changers for political parties in Turkey.
