Voices from Turkish Politics: A Conversation with Temel Karamollaoğlu

Turkey's Islamist Felicity Party has long been under the radar for Western audiences since the party has remained a marginal electoral force with 1-2 percent of the national vote since its founding in 2001. In recent years, however, it has become one of the fiercest critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was once part of the same Islamist front as Felicity leaders and is accused of taking the country in an increasingly religious direction. In a conversation moderated by MEI Turkish Studies Director Gonul Tol, Temel Karamollaoglu will discuss the role of political Islam in Turkey and the region, as well as the numerous challenges facing both Turkey and Erdogan.
 
This speaking engagement is the second event in the MEI Turkish Studies Program's Voices from Turkish Politics series, a forum for prominent figures in Turkish politics. For more information and upcoming events in this series, please subscribe to our event invitations.
 
Speaker Biography
 
Temel Karamollaoğlu worked as senior executive in both the private and public sectors before entering politics. Karamollaoğlu participated in the executive branches of the National Salvation Party (1977), the Welfare Party (1987), the Virtue Party (1999) and the Felicity Party (2001). From 1989 to 1995 he served as mayor of the eastern city of Sivas. On Oct. 30, 2016, Karamollaoğlu was elected as chair of the Felicity Party.