Secular and Religious Environmentalism in Contemporary Turkey

Turkish environmentalism is gaining ground but has not yet become significantly influential in society. The environmental movements have long been held to belong to left wing politics and to be less identified with religious ideas, but today environmental awareness is also reaching the religious establishment. This article presents some of the current secular and religious environmental trends in contemporary Turkey, based on fieldwork mainly conducted in 2012.


Introduction
The purpose of this article is to present some of the secular and religious environmental trends in con temporary Turkey. The main research questions are: who are the central environmental actors in Turkey and are there differences regarding ideology and ways of working between the secular and religious fields? When discussing these questions I will also shed light on Turkish environmental history, but the main emphasis is on the present time, focusing on the level of environmental engagement in Turkey. The article is based on my fieldwork, conducted during September-December 2012, mainly in Istanbul, but also in other cities such as Ankara, Izmir and Konya. A second, complementary research visit to Istanbul took place in June 2014.
Turkey is officially a secular state but the trad itionally strict division between religion and the state has changed, particularly during the term of office of the AKP -the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, (The Justice and Development Party), as have relations between the state, society and religion (Turam 2012: 2). Therefore my approach in mapping the environ mental field is threefold and will examine Turkey's political, societal and religious aspects, represented by the AKP, environmental NGOs, and ÇEKÜD and the Gülen Movement respectively. When discussing the key actors in Turkish society, the theory of sym bolic actors, as used by Yıldız Atasoy (2009) is useful. Atasoy suggests that it is not only dominant states and multilateral organizations that are the agents which exert pressure on policy, but also members of 'symbolic classes' , such as religious groups, academ ics, scholars, and journalists, who play a significant role. In the Turkish context this includes Sufi orders and religious communities such as the Gülen Move ment, Islamic intellectuals, writers, poets, and jour nalists (Atasoy 2009: 13).
The empirical material in this article consists of seven interviews, all but one referenced with the archival code 'IF mgt' . 1 As David Wilkinson and Peter Birmingham state, '[i]nterviews are not an easy option ' (2003: 43) but are used when detailed infor mation about a topic where an uptodate literary sur vey is limited, such as in contemporary Turkish envi ronmentalism, needs to be obtained. Both Wilkinson and Birmingham and Steinar Kvale and Svend Brink mann (2009) describe an interview as a conversation between two or more persons. According to Kvale 1 Interviews marked with an archive code 'IF mgt' refer to interviews that have been recorded (with the permission of the informant) and later transcribed into text documents. The recordings and transcribed text documents are stored at the Folkloristic Archive at Åbo Akademi University. Two of the interviews were conducted in English and five were conducted in Turkish with the help of a translator. In most cases my translator was a Finnish researcher on Turkish Islam who had lived in Istanbul for twelve years. This was of enormous help for me, not only regarding the language but to deepen my understanding of the Turkish context concerning culture, religiosity, ways of expression, how to address issues and so on from a Finnish perspective.
and Brinkmann there is an interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee in which knowledge is constructed and the cornerstone, in their view, of interviews is a dual aspect where 'the personal inter relation and the interview knowledge that it leads to' always takes place (Kvale and Brinkmann 2009: 2). 2 I begin this article with a brief look into the his tory of environmentalism in Turkey, as well as at how the key state institutions related to environ mental questions have emerged, followed by Turkish Islam at the state level, with focus on the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Thereafter the AKP and its engagement with environmental issues, and environmental NGOs and religious environmental ist groups are presented. The section dealing with the AKP includes a discussion of how the revival of Islam developed in Turkish politics, followed by a brief his tory of the party itself. The section on environmen tal NGOs includes a consideration of what values an environmentalist group is constituted of and presents some categorizations of what kinds of environmental groups Turkish civil society consists of. The section on religious environmentalism focuses on the Islamic environmental NGOs; ÇEKÜD and the ÇEVKOR Foundation. In the end I will make some concluding remarks.

The history of environmentalism in Turkey
Turkey is one of the twenty most populous countries in the world and has the fastest population growth rate of all the OECD countries. Unregulated indus trialization, unplanned urbanization, heavy use of chemicals and pesticides in the agricultural sec tor, and energy and megairrigation projects which pay no regard to environmental vulnerability are all implicated in some of the major environmental prob lems currently pertaining in Turkey. Concerning the urban environment, issues concerning air quality, the water supply and the disposal of wastewater, ground and underground water pollution, solid waste man Various studies, including the Intergovernmen tal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assess ment Report, predict that Turkey will face early and severe adverse effects of climate change. This infor mation has triggered concerns about economic con sequences, but more importantly, it has brought an awareness of ecological vulnerability into Turkey's conception of justice and national interests. Climate change has recently gained a high profile on Turkey's foreign policy agenda (Cerit Mazlum 2009: 72, 77).
Environmental consciousness in the modern sense is a new phenomenon in Turkey, just as it is for other countries as well. The beginnings of mod ern global environmental history are to be traced to the period after the Second World War both in North America and in Europe, spreading not long after to other countries such as Turkey. However, environ mental awareness in a broader sense and in the con text of Turkish history could be traced back to the customs of its nomadic tribes. The ancient Turks regarded mountains, rivers, brooks, springs, trees and lakes as sacred. But as Islam gained ground in the country a shift occurred in how nature was regarded: it became a realm in which the names of God were manifested. This shift could be seen in Turkish folk poetry, including in the dervish tradition and in the Sufi Yunus Emre's work, among others (Özdemir 2005: 19-20).
In the early 1970s awareness of local environmen tal problems expanded into the international dimen sion and became a global issue. One factor contribut ing to this development was the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment in Stockholm. Environmental protection was to be added to the legal corpus and as a result environmental law was incorporated into the national canon in 1983. The major environmental law institutions in Turkey are still based on constitutional principles dating from this time, mainly based on the Environmental Act of 1983, which was followed by numerous pieces of legis lation (Özdemir 2005: 21-2). The Ministry of the Environment was established in 1991 and later (in 2004) merged with the Ministry of Forestry. This was mainly a response to the European Union's demand for a better coordination of environmental policies. There is still a need for improvements in coordination since a number of other ministries also have responsibility for environmental issues. Fur thermore, the municipalities and the central govern ment's administrative bodies, together with the units of the Ministry of Forestry, are given the responsi bility of implementing policies on environmental issues at the local level (Adamat and Arsel 2005: 4).
The role of the Ministry of the Environment has, however, been limited and one of the major reasons for this is a lack of funding. This may result from the fact that it is a new institution without a traditional bureaucracy of its own; it has been sidelined during important economic policy decisionmaking and has been unable to implement the necessary legis lations (Adamat and Arsel 2005: 2;Özdemir 2005: 22). Many environmentalists believe that the Turkish state still does not consider protection of the environ ment to be a high priority and therefore politicians and policy makers are not interested in developing longterm policies (Özdemir 2005: 22-3). The gap in environmental regulation has slowly been filled by civil society initiatives, ranging from environmen tal social movements to the establishment of formal NGOs (Adamat and Arsel 2005: 2).

Turkish Islam at the state level
Turkish Islam functions on two levels. On the one hand it is the formal, legal and authoritative state reli gion which characterizes the educational establish ment and the social hierarchy, and on the other hand it exists within the popular, mystical and intuitive faith of the people, of which the great dervish orders are one form of devotional expression (Lewis 2002: 404-5). In Turkey 99 per cent of the population are registered as Muslims and most Muslims identify themselves as Sunni. The highest Sunni authority in Turkey is the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Türkiye Cumhürriyet Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, hereafter called Diyanet). Diyanet was created in the Repub lican period and was given the mandate to carry out religious affairs regarding faith, worship, and moral principles, to inform society on religion and to administer places of worship. The role of Diyanet, according to its former President (2003-10), Ali Bardakoğlu, is not to follow extreme ideas but to ensure a stable Islam (Bardakoğlu 2009: 10, 16).
All mosques are placed under the control of Diyanet, and all religious personnel such as imams (prayer leaders) and hatip (preacher) are employ ees of the state (Atasoy 2009: 62). There are close to 65,000 state employees serving as imams under the auspices of Diyanet. Apart from the imams there are additional religious personnel, such as müezzin (the official who proclaims the call to prayer), vaiz (preacher), müftü (here a regional religious leader) and teachers of the Qur'an schools, also serving under Diyanet (Vitikainen 2014). One of the duties of Diyanet is to coordinate the themes for the Friday prayer sermons, called hütbe/hutbe. Hutbe sugges tions are sent to Diyanet from all over Turkey and around 5 per cent of them are later distributed to the approximately 80 provinces. The müftü of every province has a commission that decides what is going to be preached and themes related to the environ ment come up a couple of times per year (IF mgt 2012/038).
According to Bardakoğlu, there has been a serious development within Islam over the past two hundred years, which has seen Islam being faced, unprepared, with the emergence of modernity. Even though faith in Allah and belief in Judgment Day have always existed within Islam, the forms of faith have changed, resulting in attitudes that are not, Bardakoğlu states, necessarily beneficial for people. Since there is such a strong focus on the life hereafter, people do not suf ficiently care about this world. A consequence of this is that education in the ways of Islam has become a matter of mere custom so that wearing a scarf, or having a beard and observing the namaz (prayer) is considered to be sufficient for a Muslim. Bardakoğlu, however, emphasizes that there are further demands on the faithful. High moral and ethical standards, such as looking after your neighbour's rights, are what make a true Muslim. Religiosity needs to start from the individual; justice, honesty and respect for nature are all aspects that need to come from within; it does not help that everybody is looking for justice from other people (IF mgt 2012/038).
During his term of presidency, Bardakoğlu paid special attention to questions concerning women, nature and disabled people. As with the work of improving the social status of women, working to change awareness of environmental issues takes time. The most important aspect of this is persisting in the work so that with time people will start to be aware of its positive effects. Bardakoğlu states, how ever, that what is most difficult is putting the theory into action. There are clear hadith regarding behav iour in relation to nature and the environment and their content could be concluded to be saying that a Muslim does not harm nature, including refraining from contaminating the environment. Attitudes in this area are not, according to Bardakoğlu, changed by means of the publication of books, but by means of continuous work on the attitudes themselves. A concrete example how Diyanet has worked on this issue is the announcement of a competition between the mosques where the purpose was to raise the most relevant questions regarding the environment. From every district the imam who had most effectively taken the environmental questions into considera tion was chosen (IF mgt 2012/038). Through this the awareness of environmental questions was raised among imams and its purpose was also to dissemin ate knowledge and awareness of the involvement of the imams to the people.

The AKP and its environmental engagement
The AKP has its political roots in the revival of Islam in modern Turkey. According to Barbara Pusch and Ibrahim Özdemir, the transition from a single party system to a multiparty system and a change in atti tude towards religion in the public sphere from the middle of the 1980s were the two major political developments that facilitated the rise of a political Islam. Two facts contributed to this development. The first was that it was in the interest of the military to establish a depoliticized version of Islam to medi ate between left and right wing political groups and the second was a political intent to weaken the para digms of Kemalism. In the 1980s these developments led to a boom in the numbers of Islamic groups and also enhanced the public voices of various other social, political, religious and ethnic groups. In this climate of change representatives of political Islam were able to found their own political parties (Pusch 2005: 132;Özdemir 2005: 21). Erik J. Zürcher (2004) describes the period 1964-80 as the 'second' Turkish Republic. This time is char acterized by the liberal constitution of 1961 which allowed parties and movements to distance them selves from the political centre (Zürcher 2004: 5). The first Islamic party, MNP (the Millî Nizam Partisi, National Order Party), was founded in 1970, only to be closed a year later after the coup d' état and recon structed into the MSP (Millî Selâmet Partisi, National Salvation Party) in 1972. After the coup d' état of 1980 the MSP, like all other parties, was locked out of politics . Following the banning from politics of the MNP and MSP leader Erbakan, the RP (Refah Partisi, Welfare Party) was founded in 1983 under the lead ership of Ali Türkmen (Pusch 2005: 132). This party was closed down by the Constitutional Court on 16 January 1998 for its noncompliance with the prin ciple of laicism, which has always been a keystone in the constitution of the Republic. During the process of the closure of the RP, the successor party, the FP (Fazilet Partisi, Virtue Party) was founded in Decem ber 1997 by RP deputies. Not long after this however, the FP was also disbanded for similar reasons as the RP and by contrast with previous developments, the deputies of the FP did not unify themselves into one group, but split into two groups; the SP (Saadet Partisi, Felicity Party) and the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, Justice and Development Party). The SP emphasized their political traditions while the AKP described themselves as Muslim democrats pursuing a number of liberal goals (Pusch 2005: 133;Zürcher 2004: 301-4).
Since the term 'Islamist' is used quite broadly in Turkey, encompassing all political groups that pro mote any understanding of Islam, the AKP is better described as a 'valueconservative' and 'liberaleco nomic' party (Pusch 2005: 133). According to the AKP member and head of the Environmental Com mittee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Erol Kaya, the party's environmental vision can be summarized as intensive actions towards the envi ronment. The goal is to create a structure where a permanent quality of life is brought to the highest level with a global environment management system of international standards and where the environ ment is not sacrificed for economic development. The basic permanent wealth is based on the goal of sustainable development together with historical and cultural values. According to Kaya, these values rest on Islam in the form of the Qur'an and the hadith of Prophet Muhammad, and on the national culture of Turkey, which is a mixture of various civilizations, but is mainly the product of its Ottoman history. The Ottoman State was the first country to adopt a con sumer rights protection act, food materials regula tion, standards law and environmental regulation (Kaya 2012).
Within the AKP, environmental issues are evalu ated under the headings of morality and implementa tion. The responsibility and concern of environmen tal protection is divided between the government and the environmental commission, local adminis trations and NGOs. Each citizen has environmental responsibility by law, which is regulated by article 56 of the Constitution. Additionally, according to the party, everyone also has individual responsibility for the environment, as required by religious, cultural and moral values. There is, however, a gap between moral and religious principles and how citizens act in their everyday lives (Kaya 2012). When asked who the key environmental actors are and who has the most power, the answer, according to Bardakoğlu, is the politicians. It is not enough only to teach about ethics since morality needs to be supported by the law. Bardakoğlu illustrates this by stating that those who produce the most waste are particularly univer sity graduates, which indicates that education alone does not guarantee impeccable behaviour (IF mgt 2012/038).
Turkey's foreign policy on the environment is mostly statecentred and leaves little room for manoeuvre, even for the parliament. Thus, the role of the parliament in environmental policies has often been limited to ratifying the agreements and amend ments to decisions which have already been made at bureaucratic levels. The country tends to engage in environmental cooperation if participation is seen as being in its national interest. The national inter est in environmental cooperation is defined mostly in terms of economic development, sovereignty over natural resources and security (Cerit Mazlum 2009: 68, 78-80). Although the official policy both for the AKP and the government is sustainable development that strives to minimize the costs of the environment, the priority of economic development in juxtaposi tion with environmental concerns could clearly be seen in 1998 when even the Minister of the Environ ment stated that Turkey cannot sign a convention which would hinder the country's economic devel opment (Cerit Mazlum 2009: 73, footnote 3).

Environmental NGOs
As a result of the growing importance of civil soci ety in the world, traditional Turkish political life has been changing in recent decades, leaving more space for public participation. This is the main reason for the rapid growth of NGOs in Turkey since the 1980s (Özdemir 2005: 24). Andrzej Furman and Oğuz Erdur (1999) claim that Turkish environmentalism has never transformed from an ecological grassroots movement into an integrated political movement. This might be the result of a long history of state control over the social sphere, the centralized gov ernments' emphasis on growth, and the state policies that followed the military intervention in 1980, which intentionally resulted in the depoliticization of its citizens (Furman and Erdur 1999: 187). Envi ronmental consciousness among the Turks emerged at roughly the same time as global environmental movements did (Özdemir 2005: 24). The lack of a strong political dimension in the Turkish perception of environmentalism is likely to be related to the fact that environmentalism in Turkey exists almost exclu sively in the form of a social movement, as distinct from interest groups and political parties (Furman and Erdur 1999: 187). Furthermore, environmental protection in Turkey has been and is partly still con sidered to be an elitist hobby. It is thought that after a certain level of development has been reached then the environment will automatically be protected (IF mgt 2014/019: 1-2). Environmental initiatives have therefore tended to be selfprotective and reaction ary. The popular movement in Bergama against the use of cyanide in gold mining was a special case. In 1989, villagers and local communities, who a decade earlier had demonstrated in favour of new industrial developments in the hope of increased jobs and eco nomic growth, uniquely launched an ongoing cam paign against activities harmful to the environment (Özdemir 2005: 25-6).
This social movement in Bergama is an example of findings in Oğuz Erdur's pilot study, carried out among university students in Turkey (Erdur 1996). The aim of the study was to stipulate the correlation between the characteristics of an environmentalist and those of a good citizen. Findings showed that there are environmental values in Turkey and that environmentalism is not only restricted to the richer parts of the world. In fact, environmentalism had already appeared by the mid1990s to be a global phenomenon. Erdur also found out that the groups with most environmental concerns were not the youngest and most educated segments of the society. Erdur's findings do not easily answer the question as to who, or which group, is the most environmen tally concerned. However, at that time the practical significance of environmentalism was still dubious and a widespread social cooperation with proenvi ronmental activities did not exist in Turkey. Being an environmentalist was disclosed to be a socially desir able quality and environmentalism was the highest priority among the characteristics of a good citizen. Social and political characteristics came only second (Erdur 1996: 72-3).
These findings were further analysed by Furman and Erdur (1999). Someone who is both a good citi zen and an environmentalist should keep up to date with what is happening in the world and be informed about environmental concerns such as ozone deple tion. They should also behave in an environmentally responsible way by recycling, being frugal, using 'green' products, and taking care of their immediate environment. They should give support to environ mental organizations and participate in environ mentally beneficial activities. However, only 57 per cent of the respondents associated support for family planning with environmentalism, which according to Furman and Erdur indicates that the respondents did not associate environmental problems with popula tion growth. Interestingly, respondents perceived support for family planning as being an important attribute of good citizenship (76.2 per cent), which indicates that this question may be associated with quality of life and social consequences (Furman and Erdur 1999: 183-6). Erdur remarks that fur ther research is needed at the institutional level for a better understanding of why proenvironmental atti tudes do not translate into environmentally respon sible courses of action (Erdur 1996: 73).
Today, according to Özdemir, the Turkish envi ronmental movement could be described as consist ing of a broad but generally ineffective official sec tor and a civil environmental movement (made up of foundations, associations and cooperatives formed by the private sector) that sometimes shows a tech nocratic tendency. Özdemir also points to another way of categorizing Turkish environmentalist move ments, constructed by ArndMichael Nohl. It consists of four dimensions; Greens, radical environmental ists, campaigners for the conservation of nature and the environment, and protectors of industry and The Şişli 100 % Ecological Public Market, arranged in Istanbul every Saturday, was started by the environmental organisation Buğday Association in 2006. It is the first of its kind in Turkey.
the environment (Özdemir 2005: 26). According to a representative from TEMA, the biggest environ mental NGO in Turkey, the Turkish environmental NGOs are characterized by a focus on a single issue and are often, due to competition, not interested in cooperating with one another (IF mgt 2012/030).
According to the theologian and professor Muhit Mert, Turkey's ideological leaders have the strongest influence on changing attitudes to create a more envi ronmentfriendly society. Politicians can enact laws, but if people do not consider them important they will not be observed. In academic circles there have been symposia and conferences about environmental themes and they seem to bear fruit. Similarly imams can give Friday sermons and teach on environmen tal topics. The environmental NGOs, however, have, according to Mert, a strong impact in reaching people and disseminating knowledge of environmen tal issues (IF mgt 2012/033).
The Turkish Green Party was founded in 1988 and was influenced by the Green movements of Europe and the United States. The founding members came from marginal groups, including feminists, atheists, antimilitants and queer activists, which caused the majority of the Turkish population to be suspicious about their real aims. Many believed that these groups were using environmentalism as a way of legitimizing themselves. The Greens were disbanded in 1994 (Özdemir 2005: 26-7).
According to radical environmentalists, environ mental problems emerge when the public is left out of the decisionmaking process and are, therefore, democratic problems. Conservationists are charac terized by their nonpolitical discourse. Among the most well known conservationist organizations in Turkey are the Environment Foundation of Turkey (EFT) and the Turkish Foundation for Combatting Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural habitats (TEMA). The EFT was established in 1978, emphasizing that its work was in accordance with the principles of the Civil Code of Turkey. The organization often underlines its good relations with the UN, EU, OSCE and the World Bank (Özdemir 2005: 27-8).
TEMA was founded in 1992 and is the largest environmental NGO in Turkey, with over 450,000 supporters. It is nonpolitical and states that its mis sion is to raise public awareness of environmental problems, specifically in areas such as soil erosion, desertification, climate change, deforestation, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss. TEMA has a strong educational policy within the formal education sys tem, but the organization also organizes seminars, panels and conferences in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education (for the training of teachers in environmental issues), the Ministry of the Interior, Diyanet (for the training of müftü and imams), the General Directorate of Security (the police force responsible for law enforcement) and in universities. The organization also publishes a series of books on a wide range of environmental issues (IF mgt 2012/030). The first training of müftü and imams took place between the years 1998-2009 in form of one or two week long camps in natural set tings. During this period approximately 800 religious leaders took part in the training. In 2010 the concept of the training was changed into seminar and educa tion oriented events. Between 2010 and 2013, 3,059 religious leaders have taken part in TEMA's training programme (IF mgt 2014/023).
The impact of the EU is also evidenced by the presence of EU funding. Some of these funds are available not only to accession countries, but also to neighbouring states (İzci 2005: 95). Turkish environ mental NGOs benefit from this and receive funding from the EU for their work. A journalist from Agos magazine, Ferda Balancar, sees this as one of the reasons that the work done by the environmental organizations in Turkey remains insufficient. Dur ing the last ten years the label that environmental ists faced of being a marginalized group is grad ually vanishing. Balancar sees two major reasons for this: firstly, that the level of knowledge concerning envi ronmental issues has increased and secondly that the environmental organizations have not been seen to make serious progress in their work over the past twenty years and are therefore considered to be harm TEMA works to raise public awareness of environmental problems such as soil erosion, climate change and biodiversity loss. TEMA's office is located in Levent, Istanbul.
less, nonpolitical players. Environmental protection is often understood in Turkey to solely consist of tree planting, with the exception of campaigns against nuclear and hydroelectric power plants. Balancar is critical of the fundraising activ ities of certain environ mental organizations and gives as examples the campaign against a third bridge and third air port in Istanbul. The building of the third airport has already commenced, but the opposing environmen tal organizations are still receiving funding from the EU. Balancar, however, states that there is a group of people with a genuine concern and interest for the environment, but this group does not possess the political power necessary to make a difference. Balancar points out that this group should not auto matically be confused with the general wave of pro test against the AKP that has formed lately in Turkey. Many of the revolts that have given the impression of being environmental protests have been manipulated by political opponents to the AKP, even though the cause in itself has originally been apolitical (IF mgt 2014/019: 1-2).
At moments when Erdoğan has been criticized for being too authoritarian and for not taking envi ronmental concerns in consideration, his defence has often been to point out how much he did to 'green' Istanbul during his term of office as mayor. Trees were planted and parks constructed, and when he gave priority to environmental issues, many secu larist political circles accused him of hiding his real agenda beneath a cover of environmentalism. Balan car reminds us that one reason for Erdoğan's success is that the AKP has worked in areas that have not directly benefited the economy but have improved the quality of life of many citizens. Even though the AKP has planted trees and constructed parks one needs to remember that the name of the party is, after all, 'justice and development' and that these are of a higher priority than questions concerning issues such as nature and environment (IF mgt 2014/019: 1-2).

Religious environmentalism
According to Bardakoğlu it was the left wing that brought environmentalism, or environmental think ing in the modern sense, to Turkey, and since con servative Muslims for most part have been right wing, they have regarded the liberal left wing, includ ing environmentalism, with suspicion; they have not been able to accept it and have referred to environ mentalism as being foreign to their values or goals (IF mgt 2012/038). The polarization of the right and left wings not only affects environmentalism but is a part of the history of -for example -feminism as well. Barbara Pusch (2005) states, that with the growth of an environmental movement in the late 1980s, some Islamic groups have also turned their attention to ecological concerns. Unlike the secular movement, the Islamic response has not included an active social movement involving protests, demonstrations, meet ings or platforms. Rather, the Islamic contribution to the ecological debate has been to publish criticisms of modernity and its effects on the environment (Pusch 2005: 134). The Islamic response has for a long time remained on an abstract and theoretical level and according to Balancar the Islamic sources of environ mentalism in Turkey are often found in Said Nursi and his writings, even though this has not yet been seen in practice. There are some movements, especi ally among young Muslims, such as the organiza tion Ekmet ve Adalet (Bread and Justice), that have criticized the lack of environmental justice (IF mgt 2014/019: 1-2). Pusch has categorized the critical writings according to theological, popular and intel lectual approaches to environmental protection.
Theological works tend to argue that environ mental protection is in line with Islam and quotes the Qur'an and the hadith to support this view (Pusch 2005: 134). Up until recent decades Muslim environ mentalists have mainly confined their attention to the publication and dissemination of scholarly works on environmental awareness and have organized both national and international conferences, panels, workshops and symposia. One example of this is a conference with the title 'International Symposium on Environment and Religion' , organized in 2008 by the theological faculty at Istanbul University (Con ference publication 2008). The more popular Islamic publications have treated the issue of the environ ment as well. In these articles the discourse of the 'bad West' can be blamed for the ecological prob lems, while 'good Islam' is held up as an antidote. The vast majority of the Islamic debate concerning environmental questions has taken place at the intel lectual level. The Islamic newspaper Zaman was the first publication in Turkey to introduce a regu lar section on the environment. Since the end of the 1990s, however, Islamic interest in the environment has declined. As with other issues of public concern, Islamic interest in environmental questions has fol lowed broader national trends. When society became aware of ecological issues and problems at the end of the 1980s, environmental pollution became an important topic in Islamic circles. Similarly, as secu lar ecological protests declined in the 1990s, so did the interest of Muslims (Pusch 2005: 134-5).
Muslim intellectuals have generally undergone a modern education in addition to an Islamic one. Most of them are university graduates and possess foreign language skills. They usually come from rural provinces, which makes them experts on the trad itional and modern ways of life. When referring to the ecodiscussion, Pusch describes Muslim intellectuals as having an Islamic understanding of the cosmos and consequently of nature as well. All knowledge is derived from the Holy Qur'an and the hadith. According to this view, Allah created the universe as a sensitive balance (mizan) and the creation is seen as a cooperation between all creatures (Pusch 1999: 202-3). The Islamic ideal can be summarized in two prin ciples: balance and compassion. Therefore the human being is encouraged to constantly seek knowledge, to use the mental faculties and to contemplate. The human being is considered to be Allah's most valu able creation; but this does not endow people with superiority so much as responsibility (Pusch 1999: 202-3;Sakaranaho 1999: 37). These principles have often remained at an abstract level, both concern ing the literature produced by Turkish intellec tuals and the ecoliterature by Muslims in other countries. There are, however, strong indications that this is about to change. A. M. Schwencke (2012) indicates that the early decades of Muslim environmentalism  were characterized by a formulation of specifically Islamic environmental theories. The follow ing decades -our era -can be characterized in terms of practical action. The next two sections of this article will present two religiously inspired envi ronmental NGOs in the Turkish context.

ÇEKÜD stands for Çevre Kuruluşları Dayanışma Derneği, the Association for Solidarity of Environ mental Organizations, and was established 1999 in Istanbul. ÇEKÜD consists of practising Muslims
A view from the Second Bridge. There are two bridges, the recently opened undersea rail tunnel Marmaray and several ferry lines connecting the two continents. The Third Bridge is under consideration. It has received fierce opposition from the environmental organisations. and the only source in ÇEKÜD is Islam based on the Qur'an and Sunna -an act performed by the Prophet Muhammad. Its vision is to be an interna tionally active environmental association that aims to reestablish the harmony and balance between nature and humans which has deteriorated. There fore the mission is to contribute to the formation of a society that possesses high moral and environmental awareness in the form of critical and analytical think ing skills. According to ÇEKÜD's website, the target is to reach eight billion humans, which theoretically means the entire population of the world (ÇEKÜD 2014). With the exception of information taken from the website the section concerning ÇEKÜD in this article is entirely based on an interview with female volunteers of the organization.
There are some differences between ÇEKÜD's Turkish and English speaking websites. On the entry page of the Turkish website is a citation from the sura 2:156 'Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return" ' , 3 which does not appear in English. The Turkish website is clearly more religious than the English version. This might be explained by the fact that ÇEKÜD mainly targets Turkish Muslims and therefore the English website is less informative.
Officially ÇEKÜD stands alone politically, but it may receive help from the government or the minis tries. One of the main activities of the organization is planting trees. The government has made this activity possible by allowing the trees to be planted on their land. Volunteers pay for a tree which they then plant, or ÇEKÜD can plant trees on behalf of other people who cannot plant the trees themselves. The tree planting is made possible by sponsors. Among the sponsors listed on ÇEKÜD's website are companies such as the radio station Akra FM (who has the same quotation from sura 2:156 appearing on their web site), the educational institution ASFA, and Olgun Lpg, a company engaged in automotive parts.
ÇEKÜD works in different cities together with other organizations, for example, local governments or municipalities. These organizations can be either Islamic or secular, depending on whether the other party wants to cooperate with ÇEKÜD. In Istanbul there are approximately ten fulltime staff working for ÇEKÜD. Otherwise the organization consists of volunteers and their ÇEKÜD activities are a hobby for many of them. The volunteers often work on some specific projects and tend therefore to come and go. Currently ÇEKÜD is working with teachers interested in environmental issues, using books, sem inars etc. The idea is that teachers who volunteer for ÇEKÜD will pass on their knowledge. Students plant trees in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of the Environment and Forestry. The organization has run various campaigns and one of the most successful has been the national 'no wasted food' campaign, which paid attention on not wasting food. The request not to waste, whether it is water or food, is one of the key summons.
The ÇEKÜD's sole ideological source is Islam. ÇEKÜD cares about modern society and its problems and tries to find answers to these in Islamic sources, applying them to the modern context. The sources are based on the Qur'an and Sunna. Over time the extent to which people follow Sunna has changed and there fore ÇEKÜD tries to follow it as exactly as possible. The tree planting is an example of how Sunna is put into practice. The sayings of the Prophet Muhammad are used as environmental guidelines in the teaching, for example, 'do not throw stones at a tree; eat what is already on the ground' , 'if you cut down one tree you should plant two' and 'plant a tree before you die' .
According to one of the representatives of ÇEKÜD, the level of environmental knowledge in Turkey is dependent on which tarikat an individual belongs to and what kind of tasavvuf the person pos sesses. According to Kari Vitikainen (2013) both tasavvuf and tarikat are complicated terms that are difficult to translate. One way to gloss them is to per ceive tasavvuf as a way of thinking, a system and a teaching, while tarikat is a spiritual school, move ment or cult, where tasavvuf as a way of thinking exists (Vitikainen 2013). According to a general prin ciple of (Sufi) tasavvuf the environment is alive and both the environment and humans have been cre ated by Allah. People have rights with respect to the environment, but also responsibilities and therefore nature should not be damaged. Animals, nature and humans are all a part of Allah's creation and this is one of ÇEKÜD's keystones. According to ÇEKÜD previous generations did not change a single stone in the ecosystem and ÇEKÜD tries to teach this to other people: take, but give as well; do not destroy or damage. Even if you are hungry you should not dam age the environment but take only from the trees that offer food. Since most people have little knowledge concerning environmental problems and, the organ ization argues, Turkey is still a developing country and people want to use the resources. Furthermore, since people are ignorant of Islam they are pollut ers, and one of the central teachings is therefore that being clean also means not to pollute the environ ment.
As stated above, the basic sources of knowledge in the organization comes from the Sunna and ictihad is used in tackling problems of the modern world. For example, when mosques are built today they tend to be located close to houses with easy access and roads are built to avoid traffic jams especially during Friday prayers.
When interviewees were asked how they found ÇEKÜD and how they became volunteers the answer given was that 'they find people, people don't find ÇEKÜD' . The impression given was that at least some of the volunteers were handpicked for a specific job. They were already known to those who made the request and this could be one reason why ÇEKÜD as an organization is unknown among the general public. Therefore the statement on their web page about aiming to reach eight billion humans does not correlate with the impression received as to how the organization reaches new members and volunteers.

The Gülen movement and ÇEVKOR
There seems to be one other exception to the rejec tion of religious environmentalism, and that is the environmental section of the Gülen movement. The Gülen movement is characterized as the larg est Muslim civil movement in the world. The Turk ish preacher, Muhammad Fethullah Gülen, born in 1941, is considered as one of the most significant Islamic theologians in the contemporary world. He has millions of Muslim followers around the world and also has a remarkable number of institutions connected to him. These include, among others, the Asya Bank, Samanyolu television station, the Zaman newspaper, The Journalists and Writers Founda tion, Fatih University, hospitals, an insurance com pany, Gülen inspired schools in 140 countries and Kimse Yok Mu Relief Organization (Ebaugh 2010;Kömeçoğlu 2008). These institutions are independ ent but are 'Gülen inspired' .
The Gülen movement has its religious roots in the revivalist Nurcu movement (often referred to as the Nur movement in English), which was inspired by Said Nursi   (Kömeçoğlu 2008: 64-5). Nursi is one of the most influential Islamic scholars in modern Turkish history and his masterwork Risale-i Nur (Treaties of Light) paves the way for focusing on a revival of personal faith through study, selfreform and service to others (Turner and Horkuc 2009). One of the keystones in Nursi's writings is the idea that there is no conflict between religion and sci ence, and Nursi's teachings have had a great influence on Gülen's thinking. Gülen reinterprets the Qur'an to demonstrate that it contains knowledge regard ing the laws of order and harmony found in nature. The basis of belief within the Gülen movement is that an Islamic modernity can be deployed through a reflexive grounding of socialeconomic restructuring according to Islamic values of social justice and ideas of science and progress (Atasoy 2009: 127). Gülen himself was raised in a clerical family, received train ing in Sufism and attended both the informal reli gious seminary and the Sufi order. This could be seen as a collaboration of reason and emotion (Kömeçoğlu 2008: 65-6).
The Gülen community commits itself to the dis semination of the Islamic faith, da'wa. Solidarity is valued by its devotees. Many of them plan their futures in the form of missionary projects and their Islamic values are based on a puritan understand ing of gender relations (Kömeçoğlu 2008: 70). The devotees themselves often describe their activities as hizmet -voluntary or vocational work. The success of the movement can be explained through its simple, direct, and personal appeal. Individuals engage in religious education and devotional activities within small, communitybased groups. The devotees form strong interpersonal relationships and meet regu larly to discuss and read the Qur'an, Risale-i Nur and the Gülen's books. The movement does not empha size overtly religious behaviour in the public realm (Atasoy 2009: 127, 129) and since there is a constant flow of influences from outside the devotees have cre ated their own inner circles in order to insulate them selves from the effects of the Western forms of public life or lifestyles. This safekeeping of Islamic morality is provided by the application of gender distinctions. Even the dissemination of the Islamic faith is based on a segregation of the sexes and this gender mobil ization is also the way the movement spreads into the public sphere. In other words, gender operates as a constitutive element of social interaction and rela tionships (Kömeçoğlu 2008: 71).
The ÇEVKOR Foundation (Çevre Koruma ve Araştırma Vakfı) is a Gülen inspired, environmental NGO established in 1991 by scholars from the Ege and Dokuz Eylul Universities in Izmir. Its aim is to stimulate public awareness of environmental issues at national and international levels. The first act of the Board of Founders was to hold an international sym posium on environmental pollution and control, fol lowed by a series of publications; Ekoloji was the first Turkish scientific journal in the environmental field, followed by Ekoloji Magazin, a popular journal on nature, environment and culture, and Ekoloji Teknik, a magazine for the environment and clean energy sector. The core values and beliefs of ÇEVKOR include the principle that environmental educa tion plays a major role in the attempt to protect the natural environment, that private organizations are important in the process of creating and developing environmental awareness and that NGOs in develop ing and Islamic countries can actively participate to solve the environmental problems (IF mgt 2012/035; Ayvaz 2012a).
Professor Zafer Ayvaz, one of the founding schol ars of ÇEVKOR and an old friend of Fethullah Gülen, has been writing books, lecturing and giving seminars for decades, enhancing the environmental awareness of volunteers in the Gülen movement, both in Turkey and abroad (IF mgt 2012/035). According to a lecture entitled 'Islam and the environment' , given by Ayvaz, Islam teaches a way of living which is founded on peace, safety, and order. People ought to live a peaceful life with respect to four dimensions: peace with one self, peace with other people, allegiance with Allah's wishes, and in concordance with all creatures and the environment. Since people are morally obliged to live in concordance with the environment, people are also responsible for their behaviour and this covers all living and nonliving creatures. In order to main tain harmony, people should recognize environmen tal facts and factors and be acquainted with the way the environment functions (Ayvaz 2012b). The theo logical foundations of ÇEVKOR are entirely based on Ayvaz's lecture. As I understand it Ayvaz repre sents the environmental and theological standpoint of ÇEVKOR. The purpose of the detailed theological derivation is to point out how ÇEVKOR derives its Islamic roots; in other words, the organ ization does not avow particularly strong theological bonds in its everyday rhetoric.
ÇEVKOR's Islamic perspective on the environ ment is based on the idea that purity comes from faith. Waste and prodigality are forbidden and there are three principles regulating the individual's rela tionship to the nonhuman world. These are; respect for all creatures, compliance with animal rights, and protecting and preserving plants. Planting a tree is Sunnah. Therefore the facts and findings of modern ecology and environmental sciences are understood to be in total accordance with Islamic principles, since behaviour towards the environment has been taught by the Prophet Muhammad himself. İbni Kayyim (Turkish spelling; Ibn alQayyim in Arabic, 1292-1350 ce) writes in his book et-Tıbbu'n Nebevi: ' Allah is pure and neat; he likes purity and order. Allah is generous and gracious; he likes generosity and grace. Then keep your yards, fields and surroundings clean' (Ayvaz 2012b).
Suras from the Qur'an that have been used to sup port an environmentally friendly approach concern ing waste include, among others, AlA'raf (7), 31: 'eat and drink; but waste not by excess, for Allah loves not those who waste ' and Bani Isra'il (17), 27: 'Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the evil ones; and the evil one is to his Lord (Himself) ungrateful' . Hadith that recommend respect for food include, among others, Üsd'lGabe: 'Show respect to bread. For as much, Allah the supreme glory, tied earth's and skies' bless ing to it' and Keşfu'lHafa: 'The one who picks up breadcrumbs will have Allah's mercy. The one who does not respect this and considers it unimportant, will be left to starve by Allah' (Ayvaz 2012b).
There are several hadith which regulate behav iour in relation to water. One of them is a hadith by Müslim where the Prophet Muhammad damns those who satisfy their need for the toilet on a spot where another may rest. Ebu Davut (Taharet 14), İbni Mace (Taharet 21) and Mecmauz Zevaid (1, 204) all prohibit relieving oneself by the riverside, water courses and so on. Müslim (Taharet 94,95,96) and Buhari (Vudu 71) prohibit urination in proximity to any kind of utilizable water sources. Another hadith by Müsned and İbni Mace tells how the Prophet Muhammad intervened in one of his companion's usages of plentiful water for ablution (Ayvaz 2012b).
As stated above, planting trees is Sunnah. Mus lims are therefore encouraged to plant trees and one of the most famous hadith is the saying of the Prophet Muhammad that it is right to plant a tree even in the face of the apocalypse. Another hadith by Müslim and Buhari is 'When a Muslim plants a tree and that tree yields fruits, they are all counted as alms; including those fruits eaten by a human being, wild or tamed animals and birds, till the Judgment Day' . Planting and caring for plants and trees are considered to be good deeds (mitzvah): ' Allah will take into account all benefits gained from each and every fruit of a tree as a Mitzvah, which has been planted and cared for by a person, and reward him' (Müsned). According to Münavi, a person (even in his grave) will always receive the benefits from the wisdom taught, the water channelled for people's usage, the drawing well that is placed at people's disposal, planted trees, constructed mosques, donated Qur'ans, and the chil dren that will pray for one. The Prophet Muhammad once planted some trees over two people's graves and said: 'The alleviation of their pain is hoped, as long as those trees are kept wet' (Buhari, Müslim). Accord ing to a hadith by Mecmauz Zevaid, chopping down trees of economic value, such as date palms and cherry, is considered such an evil act that it will lead to damnation: 'Those that chop down cherries will be thrown upon the fire, facedown' . The same fate will befall people that chop down a tree but will not plant a new one in its stead (Kenzu'l Ummal, Üsdü'l Gabe) (Ayvaz 2012b).
Fethullah Gülen sees the protection of nature as a religious duty. According to Gülen, it is difficult to awaken Muslims to a similar form of environmental awareness as may be seen in the West, mainly due the fact that environmental questions are not taken seriously in schools and by the state (Ergil 2012;Ebaugh 2010). In the West and in Turkey a remark able number of studies have been produced on Gülen and his movement, often focusing on topics such as tolerance, dialogue and education -three topics that the movement also actively promotes (Kim 2012: 2). Joshua D. Hendrick points out that much of the liter ature on the Gülen movement is often either unnec essarily alarmist or uncritically hagiographic. The Gülen movement could rather, according to Hen drick, be characterized as an Islamic variant of global neoliberalism through its fluid and selfreplicating social and economic networks. These networks mar ket its brand of what Hendrick calls civilcosmopol itan Islam (Hendrick 2011: 62-3, 80).
In 2010 a conference on ecojustice and ecology in relation to Gülen's rationale was held in Pennsyl vania. The overall theme was the injustices in the world and how Gülen or any religiously inspired soci ety can best address these problems (Kim and Raines 2012). A dichotomy between the secular society and a society based on traditional values is often seen in texts written by Gülen inspired scholars. In the con trast between Islam and modernity the issue which most often inspires disharmony and which is a part of the rhetoric of the movement is that of Western 'publicness' (Kömeçoğlu 2008: 71). Such is the case with Ali Bulaç (2007) (who is not officially part of the movement but who sympathises with it), who states that modern civil society groups or associations, which operate within the secular framework and aim to be influential over decisionmaking mechanisms, are alienated from society because they are based upon a different historical and social legacy. Leaders of these modern civil institutions are seen to distance themselves from the public and as a result there is a serious problem of 'civil representation' in Turkey. By contrast, Fethullah Gülen is seen as a true civil leader and the movement which has gathered around his ideas is seen as carrying forward a profound histor ical legacy with a modern approach (Bulaç 2007).

Concluding remarks
Beyond the environmental NGOs ÇEKÜD and the ÇEVKOR Foundation, religious discourse on envi ronmentalism in Turkey has not yet taken the form of any genuine environmental institutions or groups. This can partly be explained by its characteristically strict state-society polarization, inherited from the Ottoman Empire, which does not expect the citi zen to get involved in state affairs. Another reason is the earlier, strictly secular structure of the Turk A fishmonger in Kadıköy, Istanbul. The Bosphorus is a mixture of sweet surface waters and salty understream waters. Today the quality of the water is better and cleaner compared to the earlier condition of the Bosphorus. The rich stock of fish is a good proof if this.
ish state which did not allow any space for organized civil activities for religious groups. This, however, has changed under the current AKP government. Muslim environmentalists have for most part mainly focused on publications on environmental awareness and have organized both national and international conferences. The religious establishment has trad itionally in Turkey tended to be right wing, while environmental movements have been categorized as left wing, which has led to a situation in which the religious and environmental fields have not found an ideological meeting place.
Among Muslim intellectuals environmental issues and their possible solutions are often linked to questions of modernity. The rhetoric according to which modernity is always being blamed for all problems of the modern world can be understood as a global phenomenon in some Islamic discourses. This discursive form of expression creates contrasts, or even antagonism and paves the way in some cases for a distinctive Muslim identity. Common to all the environmental organizations is the fact that they want to raise environmental awareness, but aware ness of which specific issues varies between them. The Islamic environmental NGOs derive their roots from the Qur'an and Sunna and speak for a holistic worldview, while the secular environmental NGOs often focus on more specific issues. Since there is a constant struggle between state and religion on the one hand and Islam and modernity on the other, this creates a very complex situation in Turkey. In this context secular environmental NGOs can be seen to be implementing the modernity which Islamic rhetoric is criticizing. The dividing line between the secular and religious NGOs is not that clear regard ing ways of working and whether, for example, the NGOs are cooperating with the government. Secu lar NGOs, such as TEMA and EFT, and the Islamic ÇEKÜD maintain good relations with the govern ment, while the Güleninspired ÇEVKOR takes a dis tance. After the breach in relations between the AKP and the Gülen movement it is not unlikely that the two parties will employ environmental arguments to attack one another. Ideological polarization has led to the fact that neither of the two parties can, as a matter of principle, accept the other's views. This includes views on issues such as the environment.
As Schwencke states, the Islamic world started to move from an environmental theoretical forma tion to environmental practice only about one and a half decades ago. However, the theoretical frame works of ecoIslam, or Islamic ecotheology, have remained indiscernible for most religious Muslims. This can partly be explained by a low level of environ mental awareness, but also by a less clearly defined theological basis. Most suras in the Qur'an empha size primarily how good and useful Allah's creation is for the human being, but the earth also presents a strong temptation for the pious, which humans need to be careful of and warned about. Those who abuse and destroy the natural world should be avoided, which easily leads to a focus on the life hereafter. As Bardakoğlu noted, religion became institutionalized and for many Muslims the observance of customs is considered to be enough to be a good Muslim. How ever, in Sunni Islam, which dominates in Turkey, the emphasis on rationality is strong and humans are encouraged to use their minds and to contemplate creation. This could open up into a jurisdictional basis concerning environmentalism, but at the same time it is problematic, since one of the major reasons for environmental problems is precisely the rational ity that has destroyed the natural environment.
Depending who is asked about who the key environmental actors in Turkey are, answers vary. Based on my encounters and discussions with cen tral environmental actors in Turkey, in combination with the literary survey, a general summary can be made. According to the politicians, politicians are the ones who have the greatest influence regard ing environmental development. According to the NGOs, NGOs are the ones who can assert most influence, since there is a serious lack of confidence in politics. According to religious representatives, it is only through religious morality and values that real change can occur. My conclusion is therefore similar to Bardakoğlu's answer concerning the Turkish con text; where consumption and economic growth are still valued far more highly than the environment, a valuebased motivation, whether religious or secular, is essential to be able to keep going against the eco nomic development current -but the morality needs to be supported by the law. In this context the envi ronment possesses mainly an instrumental value, since it does not seem to have an intrinsic value in general in Turkey. Here all representatives for the three aspects of society dealt with in this article have their roles to fulfill. The NGOs are crucial by virtue of their work to promote environmental education and to reach out to the public with environmental aware ness; the religious and ideological leaders and repre sentatives are required to assert the moral dimension, whilst the politicians have the power to institute and pass laws that support it.  Laura Wickström is a doctoral student at Åbo Akademi University. She holds a Master of Arts degree in comparative religion and currently specializes in Islam and ecology within the Department of Comparative Religion. She also has a master's degree in public international law with specialization in human rights law. Her main publications are a joint publication with Ruth Illman 'Environmentalism as a trend in post-secular society' in Post Secular Society (2012) and 'Islam and water: Islamic guiding principles on water management' in Managing Blue Gold: New Perspectives on Water Security in the Levantine Middle East (2010). Email: laura.wickstrom(at)abo.fi