How can we evaluate the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi-AKP) governments’ records on women since 2002? The existing frameworks almost exclusively focus on the “politics of recognition” that includes discussions on Islamic culture, Muslim women’s identity and headscarf, etc. This project aims to move beyond this focus on Islam as the primary conceptual framework to understand Islamist governments’ policies toward women as it—wrongly—assumes that Islam is the main determining factor behind gender relations in Muslim-dominated societies. Instead, by taking a political economy perspective, this research starts from the premise that examining women’s economic and social conditions—rather than cultural identity—in any society gives a better understanding about women’s conditions. However, the study does also pay attention to the question of identity as it is used by the governments to justify their policies often promoted as “authentic” and “Islamic”. This research specifically examines the AKP governments’ policies in the areas of employment, education and health since 2002. The study is based on field research conducted in Ankara, Turkey during the summers of 2013 and 2014 by utilizing government documents, statistics, archives and interviews. The study argues that the common focus on the identity politics is unable to understand the AKP policies towards women as the policies are based on a blend of neoliberalism and Islamic conservatism, which operate at three levels: 1) the neoliberal policies of globalism with an emphasis on “flexible market conditions” and private enterprise; 2) the laws, regulations and policies at the national level that reinforce the patriarchal gender relations and constrain women’s public roles; and 3) the religion-based charity organizations that operate locally and promote “volunteerism” (rather than formal employment), Islamic education, and the provision of healthcare while at the same time providing social support to women in gender segregated settings. Unexpectedly, one finds neoliberalism and Islamic conservatism reinforcing and complementing--rather than contradicting--one another.