Turan Kayaoğlu
Biographic Data
| ID | 330586 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Turan Kayaoğlu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Turan |
| FAMILY NAME | Kayaoğlu |
| SIGNATURE | KAYAOĞLU T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Washington |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2721-9737 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 55 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Cold War Orientalism and the Making of Islam in International Relations
International Relations (IR) scholarship has often engaged Islamic concepts through reductionist and ahistorical frameworks that flatten their intellectual traditions and jurisprudential depth. This approach not only oversimplifies Islamic political thought but also casts Islamic approaches to global order as static, monolithic, and fundamentally incompatible with prevailing conceptions of world order. While these representations gained visibilit…
The Empty Quest for Muslim Democracy
The article reassesses early-2000s optimism about "Muslim democracy," arguing that Islamist participation and pragmatism have not produced stable democratization. Drawing on the cases of Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Pakistan, and others, the authors show that without a genuine normative commitment to pluralism, civil liberties, and institutional checks, Islamist parties often instrumentalize elections and slide into authoritarian or majoritar…
National human rights institutions and the appropriation of human rights: The case of the human rights and equality institution of Turkey
In 2016, Turkey established its National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (HREIT), seemingly to promote and protect human rights. However, this development coincided with a simultaneous erosion of human rights and freedom in the country. We employ the framework of human rights appropriation to explain this paradox. Our analysis reveals that the HREIT, a relatively unexamined case in NHRI literat…
Imagining the Islamic International Society
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Human Rights
People have been using tobacco in a variety of forms for centuries.Remarkably, it was originally seen as something that could promote vigor and health.Of course, now we all know that tobacco use causes death and disability in epidemic proportions.If smoking is so bad for us, why in heaven's name would anyone still smoke?People around the world who have fallen prey to the subtleties of nicotine addiction, or who care for those who have, would bene…
Shari'a in the Secular State: Evolving Meanings of Islamic Jurisprudence in Turkey. By Russell Powell
This is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Islam in Turkey in particular and on religion and politics in general. Russell Powell provides a complex account of the historical evolution of religion and politics in Turkey, beginning with the late Ottoman period. He then shows that the support for Shari’a among Turks is on the rise, that Turks attribute diverse meanings to Shari’a, and that the religious authority in Turkey is fragmented…
Getting Turkey Back on Track to Democracy, Human Rights, and Religious Freedom
In recent years, Turkey has made headlines for all the wrong reasons: ignoring the ISIS threat, taking military actions and imposing a civilian curfew in several Kurdish towns, and punishing academ
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation: Politics, Problems, and Potential
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the world’s leading international Islamic organization. Turan Kayaoglu provides the first accessible and concise introduction and overview of this important organization. This book details the OIC’s struggle to address popular Muslim demands balanced against the member states’ reluctance to support the OIC politically and materially. Despite this predicament, the organization has made itself increa…
Explaining Interfaith Dialogue in the Muslim World
In the last two decades, several Muslim states and civil society groups have embraced interfaith dialogue as a means of engagement with non-Muslims, especially with Christians. Why do these actors initiate interfaith dialogue? Why do they follow different interfaith dialogue strategies? This article argues that Islamic actors initiate interfaith dialogue to signal their moderate stance to powerful others who are concerned with Islamic radicalizat…
Giving an Inch Only to Lose a Mile: Muslim States, Liberalism, and Human Rights in the United Nations
Buoyed by the liberal values dominant at the United Nations, secular groups have effectively imposed the parameters of liberal discourse on religious actors in human rights debates. The adoption of liberal discourse by religious groups makes them vulnerable. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s campaign at the United Nations surrounding the anti-defamation of religions illustrates this. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and leading Mus…
Trying Islam: Muslims before the European Court of Human Rights
This paper examines the reasons why the European Court of Human Rights remains ineffective in protecting the freedom of religion, especially as this issue applies to Muslims. I discuss these reasons under four broad categories: religion-specific, non-Christian religion-specific, and Islam-specific. First, there are problems that adversely affect everyone's freedom of religion. Despite expansive rights for the freedom of religion and belief that a…
Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East: Islamic and Secular Organizations in Egypt By Wanda Krause (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2012. 288 pages.)
While much of the literature related to women and democratization in the MiddleEast neglects the role of women in this process, Wanda Krause persuasivelyargues that the grassroots activism of Middle Eastern women plays a vital rolein democratizing the region. Krause contends that this scholarly neglect is aresult of the literature’s (1) prioritizing the state (over civil society) and secularism(over religious groups), (2) ignoring the feminine (a…
Constructing the dialogue of civilizations in world politics: A case of global Islamic activism
Since the late 1990s, Islamic activists have been active in promoting a series of initiatives and institutions known as the ‘dialogue of civilizations’. This agenda was initiated by the former Iranian President Muhammad Khatami and subsequently promoted by faith-based movements such as the Gülen movement, and organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference/Cooperation. The agenda of the dialogue of civilizations has been a respon…
Three takes on Islamophobia
These books explore new territories in the scholarly debate on Islamophobia. Each offers a slightly different understanding of the term. However, neither offers a definition and typology that can help scholars to utilize the term 'Islamophobia' as a variable in theorizing its causes and consequences. It remains unclear how one can empirically identify and measure the variation of Islamophobia across societies and over time in order to suggest pol…
Legal Imperialism: Sovereignty and Extraterritoriality in Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and China
Legal Imperialism examines the important role of nineteenth-century Western extraterritorial courts in non-Western states. These courts, created as a separate legal system for Western expatriates living in Asian and Islamic countries, developed from the British imperial model, which was founded on ideals of legal positivism. Based on a cross-cultural comparison of the emergence, function, and abolition of these court systems in Japan, the Ottoman…
Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory: Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory
In the past 10–15 years, an increasing number of revisionist scholars have rejected the most significant elements of the argument about the centrality of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) to the evolution and structure of international society. At the same time, the prominence of this argument has grown in the English School and constructivist international relations scholarship. I deconstruct the function of the Westphalian narrative to explain its…
The Extension of Westphalian Sovereignty: State Building and the Abolition of Extraterritoriality
What explains the abolition of extraterritoriality in world politics? Which factors account for the variation in the timing of the abolition process? I develop a state-building explanation for the abolition of extraterritoriality. I find that traditional explanations of the abolition of extraterritoriality that rely on power and culture do not account for Western states' decisions to keep or abolish extraterritoriality. I suggest that the state-b…
Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory: Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory
In the past 10–15 years, an increasing number of revisionist scholars have rejected the most significant elements of the argument about the centrality of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) to the evolution and structure of international society. At the same time, the prominence of this argument has grown in the English School and constructivist international relations scholarship. I deconstruct the function of the Westphalian narrative to explain its…
Constructing the dialogue of civilizations in world politics: A case of global Islamic activism
Since the late 1990s, Islamic activists have been active in promoting a series of initiatives and institutions known as the ‘dialogue of civilizations’. This agenda was initiated by the former Iranian President Muhammad Khatami and subsequently promoted by faith-based movements such as the Gülen movement, and organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference/Cooperation. The agenda of the dialogue of civilizations has been a respon…
The Extension of Westphalian Sovereignty: State Building and the Abolition of Extraterritoriality
What explains the abolition of extraterritoriality in world politics? Which factors account for the variation in the timing of the abolition process? I develop a state-building explanation for the abolition of extraterritoriality. I find that traditional explanations of the abolition of extraterritoriality that rely on power and culture do not account for Western states' decisions to keep or abolish extraterritoriality. I suggest that the state-b…
Three takes on Islamophobia
These books explore new territories in the scholarly debate on Islamophobia. Each offers a slightly different understanding of the term. However, neither offers a definition and typology that can help scholars to utilize the term 'Islamophobia' as a variable in theorizing its causes and consequences. It remains unclear how one can empirically identify and measure the variation of Islamophobia across societies and over time in order to suggest pol…
Explaining Interfaith Dialogue in the Muslim World
In the last two decades, several Muslim states and civil society groups have embraced interfaith dialogue as a means of engagement with non-Muslims, especially with Christians. Why do these actors initiate interfaith dialogue? Why do they follow different interfaith dialogue strategies? This article argues that Islamic actors initiate interfaith dialogue to signal their moderate stance to powerful others who are concerned with Islamic radicalizat…
Trying Islam: Muslims before the European Court of Human Rights
This paper examines the reasons why the European Court of Human Rights remains ineffective in protecting the freedom of religion, especially as this issue applies to Muslims. I discuss these reasons under four broad categories: religion-specific, non-Christian religion-specific, and Islam-specific. First, there are problems that adversely affect everyone's freedom of religion. Despite expansive rights for the freedom of religion and belief that a…
Imagining the Islamic International Society
The Extension of Westphalian Sovereignty: State Building and the Abolition of Extraterritoriality
What explains the abolition of extraterritoriality in world politics? Which factors account for the variation in the timing of the abolition process? I develop a state-building explanation for the abolition of extraterritoriality. I find that traditional explanations of the abolition of extraterritoriality that rely on power and culture do not account for Western states' decisions to keep or abolish extraterritoriality. I suggest that the state-b…
Legal Imperialism: Sovereignty and Extraterritoriality in Japan, the Ottoman Empire, and China
Legal Imperialism examines the important role of nineteenth-century Western extraterritorial courts in non-Western states. These courts, created as a separate legal system for Western expatriates living in Asian and Islamic countries, developed from the British imperial model, which was founded on ideals of legal positivism. Based on a cross-cultural comparison of the emergence, function, and abolition of these court systems in Japan, the Ottoman…
Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory: Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory
In the past 10–15 years, an increasing number of revisionist scholars have rejected the most significant elements of the argument about the centrality of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) to the evolution and structure of international society. At the same time, the prominence of this argument has grown in the English School and constructivist international relations scholarship. I deconstruct the function of the Westphalian narrative to explain its…
Constructing the dialogue of civilizations in world politics: A case of global Islamic activism
Since the late 1990s, Islamic activists have been active in promoting a series of initiatives and institutions known as the ‘dialogue of civilizations’. This agenda was initiated by the former Iranian President Muhammad Khatami and subsequently promoted by faith-based movements such as the Gülen movement, and organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference/Cooperation. The agenda of the dialogue of civilizations has been a respon…
Three takes on Islamophobia
These books explore new territories in the scholarly debate on Islamophobia. Each offers a slightly different understanding of the term. However, neither offers a definition and typology that can help scholars to utilize the term 'Islamophobia' as a variable in theorizing its causes and consequences. It remains unclear how one can empirically identify and measure the variation of Islamophobia across societies and over time in order to suggest pol…
Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East: Islamic and Secular Organizations in Egypt By Wanda Krause (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2012. 288 pages.)
While much of the literature related to women and democratization in the MiddleEast neglects the role of women in this process, Wanda Krause persuasivelyargues that the grassroots activism of Middle Eastern women plays a vital rolein democratizing the region. Krause contends that this scholarly neglect is aresult of the literature’s (1) prioritizing the state (over civil society) and secularism(over religious groups), (2) ignoring the feminine (a…
Giving an Inch Only to Lose a Mile: Muslim States, Liberalism, and Human Rights in the United Nations
Buoyed by the liberal values dominant at the United Nations, secular groups have effectively imposed the parameters of liberal discourse on religious actors in human rights debates. The adoption of liberal discourse by religious groups makes them vulnerable. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s campaign at the United Nations surrounding the anti-defamation of religions illustrates this. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and leading Mus…
Trying Islam: Muslims before the European Court of Human Rights
This paper examines the reasons why the European Court of Human Rights remains ineffective in protecting the freedom of religion, especially as this issue applies to Muslims. I discuss these reasons under four broad categories: religion-specific, non-Christian religion-specific, and Islam-specific. First, there are problems that adversely affect everyone's freedom of religion. Despite expansive rights for the freedom of religion and belief that a…
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation: Politics, Problems, and Potential
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the world’s leading international Islamic organization. Turan Kayaoglu provides the first accessible and concise introduction and overview of this important organization. This book details the OIC’s struggle to address popular Muslim demands balanced against the member states’ reluctance to support the OIC politically and materially. Despite this predicament, the organization has made itself increa…
Explaining Interfaith Dialogue in the Muslim World
In the last two decades, several Muslim states and civil society groups have embraced interfaith dialogue as a means of engagement with non-Muslims, especially with Christians. Why do these actors initiate interfaith dialogue? Why do they follow different interfaith dialogue strategies? This article argues that Islamic actors initiate interfaith dialogue to signal their moderate stance to powerful others who are concerned with Islamic radicalizat…
Getting Turkey Back on Track to Democracy, Human Rights, and Religious Freedom
In recent years, Turkey has made headlines for all the wrong reasons: ignoring the ISIS threat, taking military actions and imposing a civilian curfew in several Kurdish towns, and punishing academ
Shari'a in the Secular State: Evolving Meanings of Islamic Jurisprudence in Turkey. By Russell Powell
This is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Islam in Turkey in particular and on religion and politics in general. Russell Powell provides a complex account of the historical evolution of religion and politics in Turkey, beginning with the late Ottoman period. He then shows that the support for Shari’a among Turks is on the rise, that Turks attribute diverse meanings to Shari’a, and that the religious authority in Turkey is fragmented…
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Human Rights
People have been using tobacco in a variety of forms for centuries.Remarkably, it was originally seen as something that could promote vigor and health.Of course, now we all know that tobacco use causes death and disability in epidemic proportions.If smoking is so bad for us, why in heaven's name would anyone still smoke?People around the world who have fallen prey to the subtleties of nicotine addiction, or who care for those who have, would bene…
Imagining the Islamic International Society
National human rights institutions and the appropriation of human rights: The case of the human rights and equality institution of Turkey
In 2016, Turkey established its National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (HREIT), seemingly to promote and protect human rights. However, this development coincided with a simultaneous erosion of human rights and freedom in the country. We employ the framework of human rights appropriation to explain this paradox. Our analysis reveals that the HREIT, a relatively unexamined case in NHRI literat…
Cold War Orientalism and the Making of Islam in International Relations
International Relations (IR) scholarship has often engaged Islamic concepts through reductionist and ahistorical frameworks that flatten their intellectual traditions and jurisprudential depth. This approach not only oversimplifies Islamic political thought but also casts Islamic approaches to global order as static, monolithic, and fundamentally incompatible with prevailing conceptions of world order. While these representations gained visibilit…
The Empty Quest for Muslim Democracy
The article reassesses early-2000s optimism about "Muslim democracy," arguing that Islamist participation and pragmatism have not produced stable democratization. Drawing on the cases of Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Pakistan, and others, the authors show that without a genuine normative commitment to pluralism, civil liberties, and institutional checks, Islamist parties often instrumentalize elections and slide into authoritarian or majoritar…
Political science (14 works) · Law (12 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Islam (9 works) · Politics (9 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Islamic Studies and History (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Theology (7 works) · Turkey's Politics and Society (6 works)