The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB; german: Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion e.V.; tr, Diyanet İşleri Türk-İslam Birliği) is one of the largest
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic organisations in Germany. Founded in 1984 as a branch of the
Presidency of Religious Affairs
The Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey ( tr, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, normally referred to simply as the Diyanet) is an official state institution established in 1924 by the orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk under article 136 of t ...
in Ankara, it is an "arm" of the Turkish state.
The headquarters are in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
-
Ehrenfeld.
As of 2016, the DİTİB funds 900 mosques in Germany.
The
imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
s and the religious teachers, officially classified as civil servants of the Turkish state, are trained in
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
and sent to Germany from
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
.
DİTİB claims it is independent of the
Government of Turkey.
Because the state back then was almost
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
, the officials had to be paid with money from the
Muslim World League
The Muslim World League (MWL; ar, رابطة العالم الاسلامي, Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami, ) is an International Islamic NGO based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia that promotes what it calls the true message of Islam by advancing moderate ...
, which provoked protest from
secularists. The fixation on Turkey and the
Turkish language
Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...
proved to be a handicap, because other Islamic organisations used
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
in public. The usage of German was seen by many to be more
dialogue
Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
-friendly.
Homepages of local DİTİB chapters have featured
christophobic,
antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Ant ...
and
anti-Western hate speech.
Organisation
DITIB received state aid from the
Federal Ministry of the Interior in Germany:
in the period 2012 to 2018, DİTİB received about €6 million. When it was initially founded, around 230
associations were members; by 2005 the number was 870. The local associations are registered independently for legal and financial purposes, but share the goals and principles of DİTİB as their foundation. They also acknowledge DİTİB as their umbrella organisation. It has a number of social and religious institutes.
In 2018,
Federal Ministry of the Interior cut all funds after DİTİB had been involved in a number of controversies, such as refusing to take part in a Cologne anti-terror march in 2017.
2004 rally
Under the presidency of
Rıdvan Çakır
Rıdvan is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Ridwan (Arabic: رِضْوَان ''riḍwān'') which the name also derived from the Islamic
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religi ...
, DİTİB tries to present itself as a more integrated actor in German society. DİTİB was one of the
initiators of the mass-event "Gemeinsam für Frieden und gegen Terror" (
en: "Together for Peace and against Terror"). Over 20,000 Muslims participated in this demonstration, which was held on November 21, 2004 in Cologne. Participants who gave speeches included the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
politician
Claudia Roth
Claudia Benedikta Roth (born 15 May 1955) is a German politician ( Alliance 90/The Greens). She was one of the two party chairs from 2004 to 2013 and previously served as one of the vice presidents of the ''Bundestag''. She is also currently se ...
,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
's
Interior Minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Günther Beckstein
Günther Beckstein () (born 23 November 1943) is a German CSU politician from Bavaria and was the 17th Minister President of Bavaria from 9 October 2007 to 27 October 2008. He is well known for his outspoken views on law and order.
Biography ...
and
Fritz Behrens
Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin ...
. The goal was to signal the disapproval of the use of violence in the name of Islam. It was one of the largest demonstrations of its kind in the history of Germany.
See also
*
Islam in Germany
Islam's significance in Germany has largely increased after the labour migration in the 1960s and several waves of political refugees since the 1970s.
According to a representative survey, it is estimated that in 2019, there were 5.3–5.6 m ...
References
External links
DİTİBHomepage
Islamic organizations established in 1984
Islamic organisations based in Germany
Germany–Turkey relations
Organisations based in Cologne
Turkish diaspora in Germany
1984 establishments in West Germany
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