海角大神

They portray themselves as the 鈥渁verage Joes鈥� of Turkish politics: a builder-handyman and his fianc茅e, a cleaner, who both work for the same small Istanbul company that has been going through tough times.

Harun Demir, whose hands bear the signs of hard work, wears a small beard and an easy smile; Seniz Kaya鈥檚 long thick curls are fashionably dyed, and very visible since she doesn鈥檛 wear a headscarf.

The couple could not look less religious, or less political. Yet they are the face of a new politics in Turkey, a staunchly held view of Islamic nationalism deliberately and painstakingly carved by President Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an聽and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).聽

They believe 鈥� like many of their fellow Turks 鈥� that Mr. Erdo臒an鈥檚 heavy hand on everything from press freedom to engineering unprecedented presidential power is justified as the best path to solve Turkey鈥檚 constellation of problems. The country was convulsed by 30 attacks last year, faces a struggling economy, and is at war in southeast Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.

They also echo officials when they say that Turkey is in the process of restoring its historical Ottoman influence as a leader of the Islamic world. Those references point to a moderate, inclusive form of Islam, but also authoritarian rule in the form of a sultan.

Indeed, Prime Minister Binali Y谋ld谋r谋m last month portrayed Erdo臒an as a descendant of a well-regarded Ottoman-era sultan. Last fall, a local AKP official controversially posted on his Facebook page that Erdo臒an 鈥渨ill be the Caliph of the Presidency,鈥� and that in 2023 鈥撀爓hen the Turkish republic reaches its 100th birthday 鈥� 鈥淎llah will finish the light.鈥�

鈥淣ow there seems to be a new pattern of leadership: Erdo臒an, Russian President [Vladimir] Putin, and Trump. They are not dictators, they are strongmen,鈥� says Mr. Demir, approvingly.聽Erdo臒an 鈥渋s talking to people, he is doing it for the people. Maybe he is twisting some arms, but it is for a good cause."

Turks should be patient and have faith in the changes, says Ms. Kaya: 鈥淔or it to work, you must have trust [in Erdo臒an]. It鈥檚 our role as Turkish citizens to trust our leader.鈥澛�

That is a perspective Erdo臒an is happy to feed. While critics charge that his largely unfettered rule has dragged Turkey into a domestic quagmire of social division, anti-Western sentiment, financial troubles, and multiple conflicts abroad, the president has promoted a much more flattering narrative, casting even the escalating attacks by the so-called Islamic State and Kurdish militants as a response to his country鈥檚 resurgent greatness.

Fifteen years into his rule, Erdo臒an has gradually turned his country away from the secular tradition of Mustafa Kemal Atat眉rk, who founded the modern state from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923. And there is little room for any competing views as the once ardently secular eastern anchor of NATO, which has aspired to membership in the European Union, weakens once-promising linkages with the West, promotes the role of religion in public life, clamps down on opponents and the media, and moves ever more firmly away from democratic norms.聽

鈥淭urkey is under very serious attack both inside and outside,鈥� Erdo臒an said on Jan. 10. 鈥淚t is not because we are a weak country, but because we are a stronger and stronger country.鈥�

Religious majority

Demir and Kara could not agree more. And recent polls indicate that Turkey鈥檚 conservative, religious political bloc, to which they belong, is a majority that will shape Turkish politics for the foreseeable future.

鈥淭hey think that Turkey is facing big troubles 鈥� and they are correct on that 鈥� but they think those troubles are created by malicious forces conspiring against Turkey. That鈥檚 Erdo臒an鈥檚 narrative, they buy into that,鈥� says Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish analyst of politics and culture, and author of the new book 鈥淭he Islamic Jesus.鈥�

鈥淭hey think this conspiracy will only be undone by a very powerful, defiant leader, which is of course Erdo臒an himself,鈥� says Mr. Akyol, currently a senior fellow of the Freedom Project at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

鈥淭hat political propaganda is in your face every day, every single moment. If you turn on TV, if you open newspapers, 70 to 80 percent of them almost will be telling that to you,鈥� says Akyol, noting that Erdo臒an鈥檚 opponents have been 鈥渕arginalized, silenced, jailed, exiled.鈥�

For decades, the military served as a self-declared bulwark of Turkish secularism 鈥撀爉ounting four coups since 1960 to block Islamists from governing 鈥� but AKP rule has since neutered the military鈥檚 role in politics, and made many changes in Turkish society in the name of religion.

On Wednesday, for example, female Army officers and cadets were officially allowed to wear headscarves as part of their uniforms. The move is the culmination of years of AKP chipping away at a decades-long headscarf ban that saw a similar ruling for policewomen last year, and in 2013 for civil servants and in schools.

In another sign of AKP reshaping, last week ground was broken on a new mosque on the edge of Istanbul鈥檚 iconic Taksim Square, after years of controversy.

There has 鈥渁lways been a xenophobic, paranoid nationalism, but since it was based on Atat眉rk, it was also a secular nationalism and maybe didn鈥檛 [sit well] with the conservative Islamic camp,鈥� adds Akyol. 鈥淏ut now it is nationalism [with] a heavy dose of Islam, so it appeals to religious conservatives very strongly.鈥澛�

Ruling party operatives have sometimes pushed too hard, as did an AKP youth leader in the southern coastal city of Mersin. Last week, he tweeted that, 鈥渋f only [Atat眉rk] did not exist,鈥� and suggested that the father of the nation should not be considered a Turk because he was born in Ottoman-era Thessaloniki, in modern-day Greece, and 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 look Turkish.鈥�

鈥淗istory is being written,鈥� tweeted Hasan Baki. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a revolution of enlightenment or wannabe Westernization, it is the revolution of the Islamic case.鈥� The AKP asked him to resign, and opposition party officials are taking him to court for 鈥渋nsulting Atat眉rk.鈥澛�

Post-coup nationalism

The trend of Islamic nationalism has only accelerated since an attempted coup last July, in which Erdo臒an鈥檚 call to loyalists to take to the streets to stop putchist soldiers brought the coup attempt to a swift end. Nightly across the country for a month organized by the AKP blended nationalist and Islamist imagery with strident messages of unity.聽

A state of emergency has been renewed twice so far, and some 125,000 people have been purged and nearly 50,000 arrested, according to some estimates, for suspected links to the coup attempt. In the political whirlwind, the AKP has convinced one opposition party to join it in rewriting the Constitution to realize Erdo臒an鈥檚 dream of creating an unassailable executive presidency 鈥� to its critics, the post of a modern-day sultan.

Ahead of a national referendum in April, an annual poll by Kadir Has University found a deeply divided society, but one with an ever-coalescing majority.

鈥淭he facts are very obvious,鈥� Hasan B眉lent Kahraman, the vice president of Kadir Has, told H眉rriyet Daily News. 鈥淭here is a 70 percent majority in Turkey and it is their way of thinking, their ideological thinking, that is already dominating and will dominate in the future.鈥澛犅�

Giving religion a higher profile has been part of the Islamist-rooted AKP鈥檚 agenda from the start, and signs have taken hold everywhere, from the increase in the number of women wearing headscarves 鈥撀爄n concert with gradual lifting of the ban in government institutions 鈥� to the build-up of mosques in the country from 78,608 in 2006 to 86,762 in 2015, according to the Directorate of Religious Affairs.

It has also been manifest in a national campaign by the directorate. 鈥淢osque Week鈥� was declared the first week of last October, and slogans for the year-long campaign include: 鈥淲e are going to the mosques, we are reading [the Quran]鈥�; and 鈥淟et the voice that echoes in your heart be found in the mosque.鈥�

鈥淲e are trying to make religion more in social life, to be practiced in homes and make it a more vital part of life,鈥� says Aydin Yi臒man, the mufti of the Beyo臒lu district of Istanbul, a ranking official expert in the Turkish state religious authority. He wears a suit and tie, not religious garb, and is clean-shaven, in keeping with Turkey鈥檚 secular custom for officials since the 1920s.聽

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want people to think of the mosque only on Friday,鈥� says Mr. Yi臒man. 鈥淲e want to spread awareness of religion, so when people hear the call to prayer they are more aware鈥�. It is not something bad or under pressure. We want to build this upon love, so people are receptive to God鈥檚 call, because it is God鈥檚 call.鈥�

He suggests these days there is no greater religiosity among Turks, yet the scene appears different from years past, as the faithful these days spill onto the streets around mosques in some Istanbul districts during Friday prayers. The new Sunday morning prayer meetings for youth attract up to 250 people a time, though even if there were one-tenth the number, he says, 鈥渨e would be happy with that.鈥�

He notes that the number is small, in a district with 100 mosques and 250,000 residents, but says progress is being made. 鈥淭he goal of this education is so people learn the correct Islam,鈥� says Yi臒man.

Anecdotally, such efforts are visible. In recent weeks, for example, as frigid cold gripped Istanbul, a van drove through one district announcing free tea at a local mosque, and a program about Ottoman history with a reading of the Quran. And overheard on a bridge crossing the Golden Horn, one headscarf-wearing woman suggested to her mixed group of young men and women that they 鈥渉ang out at the local mosque.鈥� 聽

'A different kind of Turkey'

That would be no surprise to Demir and Kaya, who shy away from the term 鈥淚slamic nationalism,鈥� but say that 鈥淭urkey is more diverse and needs religion to tie everyone together.

鈥淪ome people think he is more authoritarian, that he is more dictatorial. But look at where Erdo臒an has brought us,鈥澛燚emir says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a different kind of Turkey.鈥�

For Demir, Turkey under Erdo臒an聽can shape an Islamic form of government that differs from the austere practices that Saudi Arabia promotes, through money and funding religious schools and mosques, to Muslim countries around the world.

鈥淥ur hope for 2023 is that we want to be educated, cultured, and Muslim. We are redefining Islam, and what it is today,鈥� says Demir. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in our genes. The Islam that has been exported from Saudi Arabia and northern Africa failed to work, because of lack of education. We have Ottoman culture to be open and moderate.鈥�

Former AKP Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto臒lu said in 2015 that Turkey 鈥渨ill re-found the Ottoman state,鈥� in just one example of officials portraying themselves as rightful heirs of the Ottoman legacy.

鈥淭urkish religious conservatives have always had this feeling that Turkey was the standard-bearer of Islamic civilization,鈥� says author Akyol. They say, 鈥溾�楾urks were the leaders, and that unfortunately collapsed鈥�and that has to be corrected. Turks once again should lead the ummah [Islamic community] as the new Ottomans.鈥欌��

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a dream in the religious conservative camp for decades, that is not something new,鈥� he says. 鈥淓rdo臒an is now giving the message: 鈥業 am now realizing this.鈥� That creates a big sentiment around him, from people with Islamic conservative leanings.鈥澛�

鈥淭he problem is we are not living in Ottoman times, we are not living in the era of sultans,鈥� says Akyol. 鈥淲e鈥檙e living in the era of liberal democracy, and Turkey鈥檚 not heading there.鈥�