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The weakness of Turkey’s democratic system was exposed one more time lastApril when the choice of a new president triggered a political crisis. In fact, thearmy and the secular kemalist elites still refuse to make room for political Islam. Should the AKP, that came to power by democratic means, be seen as a threat to Turkey’s secular republic? Can it really be considered an Islamic party? Or did theelites construct this threatening image (AKP as the enemy) in order to retain their hegemonic power in the political field?FONT>Gülçin Erdi Lelandais has a Ph.D from the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and teaches at the Institut d’études politiques of Toulouse. His works concern collective mobilizations, alterglobalism, transnational movements and Turkey.