When I acknowledge the accomplishments of his leadership, it is not my intention to defend Erdogan nor advocate the the approach of the AK party. There are profound failures in the economic policy adopted by the government in Turkey, in my opinion, and to a great extent, the AKP like the Ikhwan in Egypt, uses religion to camouflage its essentially neoliberal program.
Erdogan’s political alliance with the West, membership in Nato, and so on, reflects the pragmatism for which the Muslim Brotherhood is famous, or perhaps notorious, depending on who is making the appraisal. The AKP is following an extremely long-term strategy to fortify and expand Turkey’s regional influence, and this gradualism requires a great deal of compromise and political maneuvering.
Turkish nationalism is one of the most rigid incarnations of that dogma found anywhere in the world, and secularism has been deeply ingrained in the society. Until now, members of the military often have to pray secretly while on duty, and they can face expulsion from the army if their wives, mothers, or sisters wear hijab.
It is important to note that, while support for making Shari’ah the law of the land averages about three quarters of the population in most Muslim countries, in Turkey only 12% share this view. Turkey is also ranked the third most materialist society in the world, after India and China. So there is tremendous resistance to the Isalmization of the state. Taking an absolutist approach in Turkey would most certainly alienate the population, and end any hopes of advancing the Islamic project here. This reflects Erdogan’s realism and understanding of the Turkish people.
Except for the former-Soviet Muslim countries, I am not aware of any Muslim land that was subjected to radical secularization to the extent that Turkey was. Despite this, the AKP has succeeded, along with the civil society work of the Gulen Movement, to revive the Islamic character of the society, and slowly but surely, to restore Turkey’s position in the Muslim world.
When you begin to deal with reality in a realistic way, you inevitably have to accept the limits of what is possible in real world time. Demanding total change immediately will not only fail in the present, it will destroy the possibility of change in the future