Executive Summary:
The German state works for the long term; to make of its Muslim citizens of Turkish origin primarily Germans, which is the central goal of European integration. However, this trend collides with the policy of Islamic organizations in Germany affiliated with the Ankara government, where their members are more loyal to Turkey, and the efforts of these organizations to link Muslims in Germany to Turkish politics increased after the Justice and Development Party in Turkey came to authority, and reached in their efforts the peak after the failed coup that prompted Erdogan to get rid of his opponents in state institutions, and it seems that this policy affected Turkish Islamic organizations abroad as well.
What are the reasons for the conflict over German Muslims of Turkish origin?
This is what we are trying to answer through the following:
- Introduction
- Turks in Germany are the least integrated into German society!
- The Turkish Union for Religious Affairs is no longer a reliable partner for Germans!
- German Turkish Muslims between Turkish and German political demands!
- The conflict over religious education in Germany between Turkey and Germany!
- “Milli Gorus” and the experience of political Islam
- The Conclusion
Introduction
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come to regard the EU as his vital field, treating it as his backyard. This policy has become very prominent after the migration agreement signed between Brussels and Ankara, which stopped the flow of refugees through the Balkans.
This agreement proved the success of the political blackmail strategy, and accordingly, Erdogan began to attach special importance to the issue of recruiting expatriates, to use them to blackmail the EU.
Germany finds itself at the forefront of embracing about 4 million Turkey, and Germany is the fourth electoral district in terms of size in Turkey, and Erdogan’s statements today give the impression that he is the owner of the matter regarding German citizens of Turkish origin there, once demanding “analyzing the blood of German deputies of Turkish origin to verify their origins”, after they voted in favor of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and sometimes calling on his citizens there to have five children because “the future is theirs”, in hints of war Another describes them as “my brothers living in Germany” and refuses to recognize that they are citizens of their second country.
Turks in Germany are the least integrated into German society!
Some German politicians attribute the integration policy failure to the fact that some countries do not want their citizens to fully integrate into the new countries, so as not to break the connection with their country of origin for economic reasons, as one of the sources of income because of the remittances they send to them, or what they spend during their visits to home country. According to the Berlin Institute for Population and Development
As disputes between Turkey and the EU grow, observers warn that politicizing Muslim religious associations in favor of Turkey would deepen isolation between Muslims and non-Muslims in Germany. The conflict is on two levels: one was impossible to ignore Turkish President Erdoğan’s repeated threats of Nazi practices by the EU, while the other was covert involving Turkey’s long-term interference with Islamic religious institutions dealing with Turks in the EU.
Today, Germany has three large Muslim associations close to Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). Some of them receive direct and overt material and political support from Ankara, the largest of which is the Turkish Union for Religious Affairs (DITIP), which is affiliated with Turkey’s Religious Affairs Authority “Diyanat” and is based in Ankara. [1]
Then Milli Görüş, which represents the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and works alongside the third organization, the Union of European Democratic Turks, which is described as “the instrument of implementing its policy in Europe.” [2]
The Turkish Union for Religious Affairs is no longer a reliable partner for Germans!
The Turkish Union for Religious Affairs “DITIP”, affiliated with the Religious Affairs Authority in Turkey “Diyanat” and based in Ankara, was established in Cologne in 1984, the Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs manages a board of directors consisting of a president and six members, and the union includes a religious advisory committee, and holds an annual general meeting.
The organization states on its official website that it aims to develop and provide religious services, promote interreligious and cultural dialogue, and promote coexistence between people of different religions and cultures.
DITIP has a membership of 930 associations, the number of which was only 135 at the time of the organization’s establishment, and the associations affiliated with the Union are legally and financially independent of it, but share the objectives with it.
It supervises (900) mosques in Germany, distributed over the 16 German states, and the Turkish state sends imams and religious education teachers to mosques supervised by “DITIP” and pays their salaries. The federation joins the education ministries of a large number of German states to supervise the teaching of Islamic classes to Muslim pupils in public schools. [3]
For the German authorities, DITIP was considered the most important partner in the issues of dialogue with the Muslim minority and integration and benefited from government support. However, because of the events of past years, this reputation has deteriorated. In 2018, DITIP subsidies were reduced, with the federation receiving around €1.5 million from the state in 2017, compared to just €300,000 this year.
References
[1] www.aljazeera.net/encyclopedia/organizationsandstructures/2017/4/10/
[2] https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%84%D9%84%D9%8A_%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B4
[3] https://www.dw.com/ar/%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A-%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%B6%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A7/a-45615540
