Religion, Identity and PowerTurkey and the Balkans in the Twenty-First Century

[...] the book is an important one and should be in the reading list of anyone interested in the role of religion as a power source and in Turkey’s foreign policy towards the Balkans.

Ahmet Erdi Öztürk’s ‘Religion, Identity, Power’ complements the literature about the place of power, religion, and identities in global politics, and provides an important addition to contemporary Balkan-Turkey studies.

This eloquently written study is an important contribution to the understanding of contemporary Turkey and the Balkans. It is based on extensive fieldwork and interviews, offering an important insight how Turkey under the AKP is influencing societies and politics across the Balkans. It argues that Turkey is projecting its own increasingly authoritarian style, combined with an ethno-religious, yet pragmatic foreign policy. The contribution of the book lies in showing the multiple dimensions of Turkey’s policy that includes the religious institutions and cultural policies in addition to conventional foreign policy, it also demonstrates how its engagement in the Balkans is related to domestic politics in Turkey. It shows how Turkey has intervened and shaped the politics and religious life of Muslim and Turkish minorities in the Balkans.

Religion, Identity and Power: Turkey and the Balkans in the Twenty-First Century has the merit to systematically look at domestic and international policies through the lens of religion instead of treating it as a second thought. It also provides invaluable grass-root information on the political role of Turkey in the Balkans. Highly recommended.

In this insightful book Ahmet Erdi Öztürk delves into the changing role of religion in Turkey’s domestic politics and foreign policy in the Balkans. But this book is about more than just Turkey, it is about religion and politics in general. It deepens our understanding of how religion can be used as a form of soft power in global affairs as well as the complex entanglements between religion, domestic politics and foreign policy.

Religion, Identity and Power represents the most comprehensive account to date of how Turkey uses religion as an aspect of its external relations. Öztürk’s masterful and meticulous analysis reveals the multidimensional—and, as he evocatively terms it, highly ambiguous—nature of Turkey’s religious soft power. A must read for students and scholars of contemporary Turkey, International Relations, and the politics of religion.