Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • GagruleLive
  • Armenia profile

Germany Welcome Erdogan with the red carpet and opening mega Turkish Mosque in Cologne

September 28, 2018 By administrator

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to open a new central mosque in Cologne. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to open a new central mosque in Cologne. DITIB, a controversial Turkish-Islamic umbrella group, provides the financing and imams. What is DITIB?

Mosque association with strong links to Turkey

The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) is the largest umbrella organization of mosques in Germany. DITIB manages about 900 mosques in Germany, including the central mosque in Cologne, and has about 800,000 members throughout Germany. Its ties to Turkey are very strong. According to the official research service for the German Bundestag, which has created a register of Islamic organizations in Germany, its charter states that DITIB is “linked to the Turkish government’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).” The Diyanet sends Turkish imams to DITIB mosques; the imams’ salaries are then paid by the respective Turkish consulate general for the duration of their stay. In other words, the Diyanet determines the theological guidelines behind what is preached in the mosques.

Influential force in Ankara

The Diyanet is a state body for the administration of religious affairs in Turkey and answers directly to President Erdogan. Created in 1924 by state founder Kemal Ataturk, the Diyanet was long known for its moderate interpretation of Islam and widely respected throughout Turkey. However, in recent years the Diyanet has shifted away from its previously rather restrained function: particulary under Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamic conservative AKP government, the institution has gained considerably in significance.

Today, the Ankara-based organization has about 120,000 employees who, among other tasks, are responsible for the content of the weekly Friday prayers in Turkey’s 85,000 mosques. With an annual budget of more than €1 billion ($1.17 billion), the Diyanet has more money at its disposal than either Turkey’s interior or foreign ministries.

Conservative structures

DITIB has come under repeated criticism in recent years, partly because of the Diyanet’s influence on it. Following the Turkish army’s invasion of northern Syria in January 2018, the head of the Diyanet urged mosque worshippers to pray for Turkey’s victory. DITIB mosques in Germany showed videos of preschoolers in uniform, and events held there in commemoration of World War I seem to have featured re-enacted battles and the praise of “martyrs” as part of proceedings.

Last year, DITIB refused to take part in a protest organized by Muslim associations in Cologne against Islamist terror. Also in 2017, the complete board of the national DITIB youth organization (BDMJ) resigned, accusing the association of suppressing any tendencies toward liberalization.

Authorities wary of DITIB

As early as the summer of 2016, the extent to which the DITIB’s internal structures are aligned with domestic political events in Turkey became clear in the aftermath of the failed coup there. DITIB imams allegedly spied on backers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey holds responsible for the attempted coup, within their German congregations. Germany’s federal public prosecutor investigated 19 imams.

And most recently, German media reported in September that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the domestic intelligence agency, was apparently considering keeping DITIB under observation.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Germany, mega Turkish Mosque, red carpet

Support Gagrule.net

Subscribe Free News & Update

Search

GagruleLive with Harut Sassounian

Can activist run a Government?

Wally Sarkeesian Interview Onnik Dinkjian and son

https://youtu.be/BiI8_TJzHEM

Khachic Moradian

https://youtu.be/-NkIYpCAIII
https://youtu.be/9_Xi7FA3tGQ
https://youtu.be/Arg8gAhcIb0
https://youtu.be/zzh-WpjGltY





gagrulenet Twitter-Timeline

Tweets by @gagrulenet

Archives

Books

Recent Posts

  • Armenia: Letter from the leader of the Sacred Struggle, political prisoner Bagrat Archbishop Galstanyan
  • U.S. Judge Dismisses $500 Million Lawsuit By Azeri Lawyer Against ANCA & 29 Others
  • These Are the Social Security Offices Expected to Close This Year, Musk call SS Ponzi Scheme
  • Breaking News, Pashinyan regime has filed charges against public figure Edgar Ghazaryan,
  • ANCA’s Controversial Endorsement: Implications for Armenian Voters

Recent Comments

  • administrator on Turkish Agent Pashinyan will not attend the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State
  • David on Turkish Agent Pashinyan will not attend the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State
  • Ara Arakelian on A democratic nation has been allowed to die – the UN has failed once more “Nagorno-Karabakh”
  • DV on A democratic nation has been allowed to die – the UN has failed once more “Nagorno-Karabakh”
  • Tavo on I’d call on the people of Syunik to arm themselves, and defend your country – Vazgen Manukyan

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in