ABSTRACT
This study focuses on the constitutional debates conducted by the Islamist discourse in Turkey in the 1990s. In this regard, the relationship between the discourse of Islamism and the constitution is examined through the analysis of the articles obtained from Altınoluk, Panel, Yeni Zemin and Yörünge magazines. The first and second parts of the study examine the place of the constitution in Islamic political theory and the conceptual and theoretical debates on the definition of Islamism, as well as the various periods of Islamist discourse in Turkey since its inception. Accordingly, in Islamic political theory, the constitution is considered as a tool to establish the sovereignty of God, in accordance with the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the Islamic state. A review of the historical development of Islamist discourse in Turkey reveals that the constitution was discussed in relation to themes such as the sovereignty of Allah and the Islamic state between the 1960 and 1980s. However, in the 1990s, the constitution emerged as a political quest within the nation-state rather than as a means of establishing the sovereignty of Allah. In this context, the discourse of Islamism in the 1990s can be understood as an attempt to position itself within the political and social order by justifying its existence rather than pursuing the realisation of its stated ideals. In the final phase of the study, the constitutional debates in the aforementioned journals are categorised into three distinct headings: “social consensus”, “fundamental rights and freedoms” and “secularism and religious control of the state”. Additionally, the contexts in which the Islamist discourse engages in the constitutional debates are elucidated.