From an implicit to an explicit understanding: new definitions of halal in Turkey

Lever, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2188-8518 and Anil, Haluk (2016) From an implicit to an explicit understanding: new definitions of halal in Turkey. In: Halal Matters: Islam, Politics and Markets in Global Perspective. Routledge, London, pp. 38-54. ISBN 9781138812758 (hardback); 9781315746128 (ebook)

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Abstract

This chapter explores the rise of greater halal awareness in Turkey by examining agricultural modernization alongside the simultaneous rise of competing halal discourses at the national and global level. The underlying tensions revolving around halal are evident in relations between reformist groups linked to the modernizing Turkish state and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) backed by the electoral support of political Islam. The chapter argues that concerns over agricultural modernization and the spread of neoliberal technologies have been just as important as the rise of global halal discourses in facilitating greater halal awareness and it also argue that as the poultry meat sector has expanded and modernized, concerns over the spread of new technology and more visible forms of avian disease have contributed towards an increased awareness of the value of halal certification. The Ministry for Agriculture and Food is the central regulator of the meat industry in Turkey.