The role of religion

Islamist Movements in Turkey: Discursive Transformations Before and After the Justice and Development Party (AKP)

This lecture offers an overview of the transformation of Islamist movements in Republican Turkey. For analytical clarity, these movements will be discussed under two main categories: mainstream and radical Islamism. Although these two categories have significant differences, they occasionally share a platform due to certain sacred imaginaries, common historical narratives and forms of hate speech that marginalize Jews, women, Alevis, and LGBTQ+ communities. The nationalist discursive proximity established by mainstream Islamist circles, in particular with far-right actors, has facilitated the expansion of this shared ground within the political sphere. During the AKP era, these commonalities have functioned as strategic instruments, enabling the temporary suspension of internal differences. The lecture illustrates these points of intersection through selected discursive examples.

Biographical Notes
Dr. Fikriye Yücesoy received her BA in Political Science and International Relations from Yıldız Technical University. She completed her MA and PhD in Sociology at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. For her master’s degree, she conducted an ethnographic study of two cemevis in Istanbul, examining the relationship between religious affiliation and urban space in Turkey. In 2024, she completed her doctoral dissertation, titled “Discourses on the Caliphate in Islamist Magazines in Turkey”. This was subsequently published as the book “Islamists and the Caliphate in Turkey” (Türkiye’de İslamcılar ve Hil-afet) by İletişim Yayınları. In recent years she taught Cultural History and World History as a part-time lecturer at various universities. Her research interests include urban and spatial sociology, the sociology of religion, political sociology and cultural history.

Religion, Institutions, and the Normalisation of the Far Right: The Austrian Case of Ülkücü Organisations

The lecture examines the specific institu-tional context of Ülkücü (ultranationalist far-right) organisations in Austria. Unlike in many other European countries, Austria has a formally recognised institutional framework for Islam, represented by the Islamic Religious Community in Austria (IGGÖ), within which Ülkücü associations are embedded. This institutional arrangement constitutes a distinctive framework for the interaction of religion, organisation, and far-right mobilisation.
Building on this framework, the lecture analyses how institutional embeddedness translates into everyday practices and organisational activities, including religious services, cultural events, commemorative practices, and transnational engagements. In this context, it briefly addresses the growing proximity between Ülkücü organisations and other Turkish state-linked and pro-government actors in Austria, including ATIB as the Austrian organisational structure of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and the pro-government Union of International Democrats (UID), situating these dynamics as a diaspora-level reflection of the governing coalition between the MHP and the AKP in Turkey.
Furthermore, the lecture argues that these practices function not only as modes of organisational reproduction but also as mechanisms of normalisation and legitimation, framing ultranationalist far-right actors as routine religious and community institutions. In doing so, it focuses on the Austrian case and highlights how institutional frameworks shape the visibility, acceptance and social integration of far-right organisations beyond overt political mobilisation.

Biographical Notes
Dr. Evrim Erşan Akkılıç is a sociologist specialising in research on right-wing extremism, migration, and diaspora. She works as a research associate at the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW) in the Department of Right-Wing Extremism Research. Her work focuses in particular on migrant-related right-wing extremism, transnational political mobilisations, and the symbolic and affective dimensions of extremist ideologies. She is the author of the chapter on migrant-related right-wing extremism in the DÖW’s annual Report on Right-Wing Extremism and is currently publishing on methodological approaches, with a particular focus on the definition of right-wing extremism. Methodologically, she works primarily with qualitative and praxeological approaches, combining empirical research with critical social analysis.

Admission

Admission only after prior registration and subject to organiser approval!

The organisers reserve the right to restrict participation to registered individuals. Persons who are members of far-right extremist parties or organisations, who can be identified as part of the far-right extremist scene, or who have previously made racist, nationalist, antisemitic, or otherwise dehumanising statements are excluded from the event.

Participation is free of charge. Registration is required for each event individually . Please register at least 3 days before the events you are interested in by emailing: projekt-retra@oth-regensburg.de.
After organiser approval, you will receive confirmation email as well as the video conference link shortly before the event.

Content Note

This lecture series addresses topics such as racism, political violence, antisemitism, and far-right extremism. Some content may be distressing.