Seite - 114 - in Limina - Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Band 2:1

114 | www.limina-graz.eu hande Birkalan-Gedik | muslim | martyr | masculine toman imperial boundaries, rather than historically embattled Republi- can borders. This view creates quite a different understanding of Turkish national interests and allows Muslim nationalists the freedom to open borders to Arab states, make alliances globally, and pursue economic in- terests without concern for the ethnic identity of its interlocutors or the role they played in Republican history” (White 2013, 38). White seems to maintain a flexible view on religious nationalism in Turkey, identifying the ethnic-national factor of “Turkishness” (as opposed to Ot- toman-ness, as others previously argued), carrying a religious component with it. In my view, this marks an important difference to other “global” examples of religious nationalism. On the other hand, because terms such as Turk, Muslim, and Islam are quite problematic, I would be reluctant to describe the AKP’s new nationalism as totally “Islamic.” As Jeffrey Haynes stressed, Islam is a great part of the national identity in Turkey, but not its core (Haynes 2010). Considering this, I then maintain that the AKP has focused its political at- tention on creating a new national identity in Turkey, tayloring it around the so-called Islamic values by hegemonizing the discourses on martyr- dom, masculinity, and military. Clearly, this new narrative proved itself useful, especially, during the attempted coup of 15 July 2016, where Islamic texts, symbols, practices, and traditions in addition to secular discourses of nationalism were used side by side. Lastly, White’s argument on the com- mon basis of nationalism in Turkey as shared by the secularists and the “Muslims” alike is the “belief that to be Turkish means to be Muslim, and that Turkish Islam is the better form of Islam. Both desire to be modern, and each faction in its own way wishes to connect to the West” (White 2013, 19). Her argument can be used as a guiding framework for my present anal- ysis and could be understood as a distinctive feature of their new national- ism from the Kemalist, secularist nationalism. Nationalism as a Masculine Project Several scholars have already pointed out the roles of women in nation- building projects being limited to biological producers of the nation, repro- The AKP has focused on creating a new national identity, playing it around the so-called Islamic values.