Erdogan’s significant influence on Turks abroad – DW – 08.06.2023

Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir was absolutely not in the mood to celebrate. After the election victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he expressed his disappointment and called for a new era in Turkey policy from the federal government. “In dealing with Putin, we saw what happens when you sugarcoat a situation,” said the Greens politician with Turkish roots. He warned of an increase in Turkish nationalism and fundamentalism in Germany.

The minister also criticized the German Turks, who loudly and extensively celebrated Erdogan’s victory on German streets. “They honk because someone has won an election who is turning the country into a kind of open prison, while at the same time they enjoy the advantages of liberal democracy here,” Özdemir criticized.

Gökay Sofuoglu, the chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD), on the other hand, warned against a general bashing of voters of Turkish origin in Germany. In an interview with DW, he said that around three million Turks live in Germany. Of these, around 500,000 voted for Erdogan. Measured against the total number of German Turks, that’s only around 17 percent.

Contradiction comes from Kemal Bozay, professor at the Center for Radicalization Research and Prevention at the International University of Cologne. The fact remains that more than 65 percent of those entitled to vote who took part in the presidential and parliamentary elections voted for Erdogan and his People’s Alliance.

Bozay adds that some voters also voted for the ultra-nationalist MHP party in the parliamentary elections. The MHP is an important ally of Erdogan. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), it is the original organization of the right-wing nationalist Gray Wolves.

For Bozay, it should not be ignored that the conservative-nationalist and extremely religious influence among people of Turkish origin is increasing. In his opinion, organizations such as the Union of International Democrats (UID), a lobby organization of the Turkish ruling party AKP, the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (DITIB), the Islamic Community Millî Görüs (IGMG) and the Federation of Turkish Democratic Idealist Associations (ADÜTDF), which is regarded as a “grey wolf group”, contributes to this influence being further strengthened.

Disintegration policy on behalf of the AKP

The UID was founded in 2004 as a lobby organization of the Turkish governing party AKP in Cologne. It is now the largest pro-government interest group that intensively campaigns for current Turkish politics and tries to influence the opinion-forming of the Turkish community. Its headquarters are in Cologne, and according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution it has 15 regional associations nationwide, to which several local associations belong.

The fact that such umbrella organizations and organizations act as the basis for the AKP election campaign is actually not a problem, says the expert Bozay. He finds it problematic when this election campaign spreads extreme right-wing, ultra-nationalist and extremely religious positions and propagates anti-democratic attitudes.

With around one million people, the largest Turkish community lives in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, this represents considerable mobilization and voter potential. This is taken into account by an often disintegrative Turkish diaspora policy.

According to the authorities, an essential part of this policy consists in continuously and through many different channels pointing out alleged or actual cases of racism, Islamophobia and hostility to Turkey in German society and the German state. On the other hand, the appreciation and great importance of the community living in Germany for the Turkish government was emphasized. In order to reach people of Turkish origin and bind them closely to Turkey, these organizations disseminated the Turkish government’s narratives.

A look at the UID’s social media channels shows what this means. In a video recorded in front of Erdogan’s presidential palace in Ankara, UID chairman Köksal Kus gave a speech to a large group of people who had apparently traveled from abroad . In Europe it is not easy to be an AKP and Erdogan supporter, said Kus. “Nevertheless, you have shown that you are Erdogan’s proud soldiers.” Applause and shouts of God is great accompany the euphoria. He continued: “You did an excellent job on both ballots. We wrote this heroic epic together.” Then the group marches towards the palace entrance. One of them sets the pace: “Whose side are the Turks abroad on?” someone shouted loudly, “On the leader’s side!” the answer echoed back.

According to its own statements, the UID coordinated the election campaign with the AKP coordination center for foreign elections. For the past year, they have formed 750 representations in 180 regions worldwide, mobilized 15,000 poll workers and more than 30,000 volunteers for the election campaign.

Photographs show they made house calls, distributed pamphlets and gifts, and drove voters to polling stations. The UID representatives also visited the polling stations. On the evening of the election, they looked over the shoulders of the helpers during the count in Ankara.

An opposition election worker from Germany says that she found these visits by numerous UID representatives extremely unpleasant and an attempt at intimidation.

The role of the mosques

Since the introduction of voting rights for Turks living abroad, mosque associations have often come under criticism. They are accused of campaigning for the Turkish government. This time, too, the DITIB and the Islamic Community Milli Görüs (IGMG) are in the crossfire.

The largest Muslim umbrella organization DITIB rejected the allegations. The organization does not tolerate campaign events and advertising for parties in their communities. However, if they indicate the entrance of DITIB facilities as a meeting point for shuttle services to bring voters to the ballot boxes, DITIB has no influence on this.

However, the DITIB did not comment on the government propaganda of some imams. Before the elections, some imams spread the word that foreign powers wanted to partition Turkey. It is high time to fight for religion, the religious authority and the Turkish flag.

Almost all imams employed in Turkish mosques are sent from Ankara. They are Turkish civil servants who are paid by the Diyanet religious authority. Diyanet reports directly to Turkish President Erdogan. German Minister Cem Özdemir fears that the next generation of imams sent to Germany could be even more nationalist and fundamentalist. The reason for this is that Erdogan has expanded his alliance with other nationalist, Islamist and anti-Semitic allies.

Extremism researcher Bozay shares this concern. “Especially here we need an active participation policy that picks up young people of Turkish origin and includes them in the social structures,” he says. It is important that extreme right-wing, Islamist and anti-Semitic Turkish organizations are pushed back from democratic processes in this country. But that would only be possible if the federal government designed an active recognition policy and picked up young people at an early stage, Bozay continued.