In the analysis of the transformation of the pro-Islamic parties in Turkey, there are three competing explanations: the effect of repression, EU conditionality within the framework of the Copenhagen criteria, and the emergence of a new generation. Even though these “effects” played important facilitating and restraining roles, none of them were the causes of this deep transformation. I explain the transformation in terms of the emergence of new economic opportunity spaces and the evolution of a new set of actors.

This chapter argues that the main reasons for the evolution of a liberal Islamic movement in Turkey are the domestic changes that took place during the premiership of Turgut Özal, between 1983 and 1993. These changes have been consolidated by external factors, especially Turkey's desire to join the European Union. Thus, I argue, the origins of this transformation are rooted in Turkey's neo-liberal economic history, but the movement towards democratization has been consolidated by the EU process. The chapter will address the following questions. What are the political and social origins of the split of the AKP from the National Outlook Movement (NOM) of Necmettin Erbakan? What is the role played by Islamic entrepreneurs in the emergence of a pro-European, pro-market and pro-liberal Islamic movement in Turkey?