DITIB-Zentralmoschee Köln - April 2015-7489

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 ...

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.

References

External links

DİTİB
Homepage 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 {{Germany-org-stub

Organisation

2004 rally

See also

References

External links