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Abstract
What explains Islamic organizations' differing support for European integration and the democratic reforms that it entails? The question is highly relevant in the context of European Union (EU) enlargement towards Muslim-majority countries in the Balkans as well as theoretical debates on reasons and forms of Islamic moderation. Yet, almost no comparative research has been done on Balkan Muslims' support for European integration with the exception of the Turkish case. This article explores the role of interest- and belief-related factors in explaining Muslim organizations' differential support for the EU accession project in Albania and Turkey. The comparison of the most powerful Muslim organizations in both countries enables a most similar cases research design – our cases are similar in all aspects of the identified theoretical framework except for organizational capacities, which we argue explain the difference of attitudes towards the EU.
Notes on contributors
Arolda Elbasani is Jean Monnet Fellow at Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Florence, Italy.
Beken Saatçioğlu is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Istanbul Kemerburgaz University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Notes
1. Özel, “A Passionate Story,” 57.
2. Nasr, “The Rise,” 25.
3. Tezcür, “The Moderation,” 80–1.
4. Ragih-Aghsan, “Turkey's EU Quest,” 45.
5. Yavuz, “Is There a Turkish Islam?”
6. Albania is currently a “potential” candidate country and applied for EU membership in 2009. Turkey has been a candidate country since 1999.
7. Elbasani, “Religion and Democratization.”
8. See Bellin, “Faith in Politics.”
9. For a summary of literature see Kunkler and Leininger, “Religious Actors.”
10. George and Bennett, Case Studies, 151.
11. Ibid., 166.
12. Ibid., 205.
13. Stephan, “Religion, Democracy,” 47–52.
14. Bellin, “Faith in Politics,” 319–26.
15. Kalyvas, “Commitment Problems,” 385.
16. Schwedler, “Can Islamists Become Moderates?” 352.
17. Tezcür, “The Moderation.”
18. The rewards offered by the EU range from closer economic cooperation and strengthened institutional ties to the ultimate “carrot” of membership.
19. Adopted in 1993, the official EU membership criteria require candidate countries to demonstrate, among others, “stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities” (European Council, Presidency Conclusions, 13). Over the years, the political criteria have been expanded to include more specific areas of reform on a case-by-case basis.
20. Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier, “Introduction,” 11.
21. Yavuz, Islamic Political Identity, 215.
22. Schwedler, “A Paradox of Democracy?” 25.
23. Schwedler, “Can Islamists Become Moderates?,” 363.
24. Bellin, “Faith in Politics,” 345–6.
25. See Schimmelfenning and Sedelmeier, “Introduction,” 1–28.
26. Kunkler and Leininger, “The Multi-Faceted Role.”
27. Toft, Philpott, and Shah, God's Century, 9–10.
28. Kunkler and Leininger, “Religious Actors.”
29. Casanova, Public Religions, 211–15.
30. Kuru, Secularism and State Policies, 31–2.
31. Toft, Philpott, and Shah, God's Century, 39.
32. Kunkler and Leininger, “The Multi-Faceted Role,” 1063.
33. Toft, Philpott, and Shah, God's Century, 45.
34. Tezcür, “The Moderation.”
35. Vachudova, Europe Undivided, 2005.
36. Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier, “Conclusions,” 211.
37. Della Rocca, Kombi dhe Feja.
38. Article 10, Albanian Constitution.
39. Article 4, Turkish Constitution.
40. Hale and Özbudun, Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism, 17.
41. Lakshman-Lepain, “Albanian Islam,” 41.
42. Endersen, “Is the Albanian's Religion Really ‘Albanianism’?,” 205.
43. Kuru, “Reinterpretation of Secularism,” 147–52.
44. Quoted in Ibid., 142.
45. Interview with Besnik Sinani, 20 December 2010, Berlin.
46. Hale and Özbudun, Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism, 37.
47. Ibid., 49.
48. Lakshman-Lepain, “Albanian Islam,” 4.
49. Pano, “Religion in Albania,” 152.
50. Clayer, “God in the ‘Land of the Mercedes.’”
51. Raxhimi, “Turkish Brand of Islam.”
52. Clayer, Ne Fillimet e Nacionalizmit Shqiptar, 406–23.
53. Elbasani, “Religion and Democratization.”
54. Raxhimi, “Turkish Brand of Islam,” 4.
55. See Government of Albania, Agreement between the Council of Ministers, article 3.
56. Lakshman-Lepain, “Albanian Islam,” 49.
57. Kuru, “Globalization and Diversification,” 268–73.
58. Quoted in Kuru, “Reinterpretation of Secularism,” 141–2.
59. Quoted in Duran, “JDP and Foreign Policy,” 288.
60. Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy, 168.
61. Elbasani, “Religion and Democratization.”
62. Endersen, Is the Albanian's Religion Really “Albanianism”?.
63. Elbasani, European Integration, 207.
64. Sulstarova, Arratisje nga Lindja, 265.
65. Quoted in Sulstarova, “Europa e Ngurte e Kadarese,” 39.
66. Quoted in Muslim Forum of Albania, “The Muslim Forum of Albania,” 2.
67. Moisiu, “Inter-Religious Tolerance.”
68. Clayer, “God in the ‘Land of the Mercedes,’” 13.
69. Vickers, Islam in Albania.
70. Quoted in Endersen, Is the Albanian's Religion Really “Albanianism”?, 179.
71. Vickers, Islam in Albania.
72. Muslim Forum of Albania, “Miranda Vickers.”
73. Muslim Forum of Albania, “A Call for Albanian Government.”
74. Muslim Forum of Albania, “Miranda Vickers,” 5.
75. Erdoğan served a four-month prison sentence in 1999 for “inciting public hatred based on religion” (Article 312, Turkish Penal Code) and was subsequently banned from participating in parliamentary elections for five years.
76. Kuru, “Globalization and Diversification,” 272.
77. Duran, “JDP and Foreign Policy,” 284.
78. For a detailed discussion, see Hale and Özbudun, Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism, 55–67.
79. See for example European Commission, Turkey 2007 Progress Report, 10.
80. Ibid., 11.
81. Ibid., 11.
82. Quoted in Celep, “Turkey's Long EU Accession Process.”
83. OSCE, Main Findings.
84. Freedom House, Turkey Freedom of the Press 2011.
85. Champion, “Call the Prime Minister a Turkey.”
86. OSCE, “OSCE Media Freedom”; European Commission, Turkey 2011 Progress Report, 26.
87. European Parliament, European Parliament Resolution of 29 March 2012 on the 2011 Progress Report on Turkey, para. 15.
88. ECHR, Décision requête no. 15869/09, 7.
89. ECHR, Décision, Requête no. 28484/10, 11–12.
90. Türmen, “AİHM'nin Tuncay Özkan Kararı.”
91. European Commission, Turkey 2011 Progress Report, 25.
92. Saatçioğlu, “Revisiting the Role.”
93. Quoted in Yılmaz, “Turkish Identity on the Road to the EU,” 297.
94. See, inter alia, Alpay, “Why the Turkish Paradox?”; Babahan, “Those Who Pull the Trigger.”
95. Saatçioğlu, “Revisiting the Role.”
96. Kuru, “Globalization and Diversification,” 261–5.
97. See, inter alia, Stratfor, “Turkey: An Emerging AKP-Gulenist Split?”
98. Çakır, “Islami kesim içinde.”
99. Kuru, “Globalization and Diversification,” 266–8.
100. Ibid.
101 Ibid., 266.