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This paper seeks to shed new light on the old question of whether the Islamic culture is compatible with neoliberal capitalism. The research focuses on how AKP, with the decline of the welfare state in Europe in the 1990s, and in Turkey's attempts to be a competitive player in world economy (and of course to join the EU), has successfully used its Islamic links to help disseminate in the society the neoliberal view of the state. Especially in the area of poverty alleviation, the AKP has been successful in deferring part of its role (as the majority government) in welfare functions to Islamic charity organizations, and at the same time, benefit from these organizations' activities via the linkages between those organizations and local governments. An important question here is how these organizations see themselves. Do they ascribe to such a position- as additions to the State's welfare system? What do they think about their role as actors in civil society? What type of a relation do they want to have with the state? Answers to these questions can improve our understanding of three issues. First, when the AKP is channeling the resources of small charity organizations to local municipalities, how does the common Islamic ideological orientation affect the polity? Second, how do Islamic NGOs see the civil society's role? Can they be actors in a democratic system, as some liberals presume? Lastly, what type of a future do they want for themselves? Do they envision a State where Islamic rules prevail, are the secularists' suspicions justified? The paper does not claim to find all the answers to these questions; rather it attempts to reveal the mechanisms and the thought process behind the Islamic NGOs, through a structured- focused comparative case study. The paper opens with a brief explanation of the relationship between globalization and neoliberal economic policies, and its affect on Turkish economy. Then it discusses how the role of civil society is deduced to an agent that serves the state. Taking a look at the civil society organizations in Turkey working in the area of development and poverty alleviation, the paper goes on to investigate two Islamic civil society organizations working to help the poor and needy. Both are small charity organizations, mainly focusing on poor widowed women and their children. Both of them are mostly active in their neighborhoods, in the district that their organization is founded. Through a structured focused comparative case study, the research reveals how the charity organizations as members of civil society contribute to poverty reducing strategies and help the government infuse in the society the view of the new neoliberal state. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]