Discusses if it is possible for a political party with deeply religious ideology to liberalise and entertain democracy.

M. Hakan Yavuz is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Center for Middle East Studies at The University of Utah. His recent publications include The Emergence of a New Turkey: Democracy and AK Parti (2006) and Islamic Political Identity in Turkey (2005).

Introduction: what is an Islamic and non-Islamic party?; 1. The socio-political context; 2. Political origins of the AKP; 3. Ideology, organization and parliamentary group of the AKP; 4. The two queen bees: Erdöan and Gül; 5. Modes of secularism; 6. The AKP and the Kurdish question; 7. Foreign policy - EU/Cyprus and USA/Iraq; 8. The crisis and the 2007 elections.