Obscuring the control of the state in Turkey: the articulation of discourse of private Islam

In 2012, the main opposition party in Turkey, the CHP, accused the ruling AKP of making ideological and unscientific educational reforms. By using discourse analysis, this study examines the debate in the Committee on National Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and scrutinizes how politicians articulate the discourse of private Islam. Furthermore, it explicates how this discourse obscures the state’s power over Islam. Although the parties advocated different educational policies in the 2012 debate, their articulation reinforces the hegemonic configuration of power by which the state as a public institution controls private Islam.