The conflict between secularism and Islamism within Turkish politics has its roots in a 200-year-long process. Weakened increasingly by rising nationalism, the Ottoman Empire had become a pawn of European powers in the 19th century. Intensive reforms aimed to provide the "sick man of the Bosporus" with a new "salutary order." This included the gradual introduction of religious freedom in the constitution. The influence of the Young Ottomans and later the Young Turks led to the establishment of the new Turkish Republic. The Turkish Republic under Kemal Atatürk consistently separated state and religion. Nevertheless, Turkish politicians still engage in discussions today that are older than the Turkish Republic itself. Cigdem Dumanli provides the entire historical context of the processes of separation and definition between the people and the state in her analysis.