Islamists and ethnic minorities: evidence from Sudan and Turkey

ABSTRACT In the past four decades, Islamists have emerged as important actors in the politics of the Middle East and North Africa, seizing power in some cases. In response, scholars of MENA have been investigating Islamists’ behavior and policies relating to a wide range of issues. And yet, despite its real-world and academic salience, empirical research on the relationship between contemporary Islamist rulers and minorities has been sparse. The paper investigates ruling Islamists’ minority treatment in Sudan and Turkey. Observing a variation in treatment, the paper demonstrates that religious affiliation and religious-ideological motivations have little explanatory power in the cases. The paper argues that in effort to secure their power, Islamists will engage in alliance building with or against minority groups. Alliance building itself is affected by the strategic interactions between Islamists, minority groups and other key political actors as well as the regional and international environments.