Lexicon

The Süleymancılar and Erdoğan’s Struggle to Control Religion

Religious communities rarely survive major political ruptures unchanged. They endure by carrying an old moral world into new institutions. The Süleymancılar are among the...

The State, Religious Communities, Sufi Orders, and the Second Kemalism

The State, Religious Communities, Sufi Orders, and the Second Kemalism Socio-political developments that have profoundly unsettled life in Turkey show no sign of abating. On...

War and the Return of Memory: Alevi–Shi‘i Imaginaries in Contemporary Turkey

Beneath the visible structures of Anatolian political culture lies a deeper emotional and symbolic reservoir—one shaped not merely by institutions or ideologies, but by...

Turkey’s Political Crisis Is a Crisis of the Regime

On March 19, 2025, the arrest of Istanbul Mayor and opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu reignited a political crisis that has been smoldering for...

Raison d’État of the Turks

Following recent developments, the concept of “state reason” (devlet aklı), once again brought to the fore by Mümtaz’er Türköne, has reignited debate. The question...