Predicaments and Prospects in Uzbek Islamism: A Critical Comparison with the Turkish Case

Abstract

Uzbekistan is a very crucial country in Central Asia with regards to threats challenging the region’s stability. Any political and social change in Uzbekistan will have region-wide ramifications. This study endeavours to contribute to the current literature in terms of discussing the predicaments and prospects of the Uzbek Islamism by critically comparing it with the Turkish case with a special emphasis on the normative frameworks of the actors. Islams in Turkish and Uzbek contexts have several common points. These similarities are not only in the sense of theoretical orthodox Islams which are indeed identical but also in terms of folk Islams and the states’ official Islams. Furthermore, both countries had experienced periods of official antagonism toward Islamic activism, especially its civil manifestations. Thus, this study endeavours to analyse if and to what extent Turkish Islamism’s transformation could also be experienced in the Uzbek context and under what conditions.

Keywords: Uzbekistan, Islamism, Turkey, Radicalism, Central

JEL Classification: Z019