Turkey's Religious Affairs Ministry, Authority Over Hagia Sophia Mosque And 2,000 Mosques Around The World, Part IV – Police Investigate Jihad Sermon In The Netherlands; Many Ministry Magazine Articles Complain Of Charlie Hebdo 'Insults' While Remaining Silent On Attack

In a July 10, 2020 decree, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan converted the Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque and placed it under the authority of the country's Ministry of Religious Affairs.[1]Turkey's Ministry of Religious Affairs, colloquially and in this report referred to as the Diyanet, an abbreviation of its Turkish name Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, was founded in 1924 as a successor to the office of the Ottoman Sheikh Al-Islam.[2] In Turkey, the Diyanet runs 89,259 mosques and 22,758 Quran schools.[3] It runs another 2,000 mosques abroad[4] in countries including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, and Norway.

This is a four-part series on Diyanet activity in Turkey and Europe as reported by Turkish-language sources. The following Table of Contents shows the subjects to be included in each part: 

Part I – Turkish Press Reports On Ministry's Jihad Connections, Corruption

• Personnel And Budget

• Publications And Broadcasting Apparatus

• Organizational Structure

• Corruption

• Jihadi Connections In Turkey

• Messaging Concerning Jihad, Martyrdom, And Hijra ("Migration" i.e., To The Islamic State) On Main Website And European Branch Websites

Part II – Statements On Women, Children: Girls Are Permitted To Marry, Become Pregnant At Age Nine; If 'A Father Lustfully Kisses His Daughter Or Lustfully Hugs Her, The Mother... Becomes Forbidden' To Him; 'If He Beats You... Say: "I Will Do Whatever You Like"'

• Diyanet Resources Being Used To Promote AKP And Its Policies

• On Children

• On Women

Part III – Statements And Actions On Religious Minorities, Secularism, Homosexuality, And Alcohol

• On Religious Minorities In Turkey

• On Secularism

• On Alcohol

• On Education, Homosexuality, And New Years' Celebrations

Part IV – Police Investigate Jihad Sermon In The Netherlands; Many Ministry Magazine Articles Complain Of Charlie Hebdo 'Insults' While Remaining Silent On Attack  

• Diyanet Offices Abroad

• Diyanet In Germany

• Diyanet In Netherlands

• Diyanet In France

• Diyanet In Switzerland

• Diyanet In Austria

• Diyanet In Denmark

• Diyanet In Belgium And Norway

• Diyanet In U.S., U.K., Australia, And Canada

• Diyanet In Iran And Pakistan

The Diyanet emblem

Part IV – Police Investigate Jihad Sermon In The Netherlands; Many Ministry Magazine Articles Complain Of Charlie Hebdo 'Insults' While Remaining Silent On Attack

Diyanet is building more mosques abroad all the time. In 2019 alone it opened new mosques in Tokyo, Tanzania, Djibouti, the Netherlands, Cambridge, Cyprus, Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo.[5] A report by Germany's domestic intelligence agency on Diyanet İşleri Türk İslâm Birliği ("Turkish Islam Union For Religious Affairs," DITIB) found that "especially due to the Turkish military operation in northern Syria, some DITIB mosque congregations have started anti-constitutional, nationalist, and religionist activities and made statements within that scope."[6]

In February 2018, it was reported that the government of the Netherlands had begun an investigation into a sermon given at an Hollanda Diyanet Vakfı ("Diyanet Foundation Of The Netherlands," HDV) mosque in the country titled: "Jihad: Struggle With [One's] Life And Property In The Path Of Allah." Diyanet publications mention at least a dozen times the January 7, 2015 attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, at whose offices two jihadis killed 12 people and injured 11 others after the weekly ran cartoons of Muhammad. Many of the articles that mention the Charlie Hebdo weekly and were written after the attack took place fail to mention the attack at all, and some mention only the weekly's "insults" to Muhammad or complain about how anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe increased after the attack.

Diyanet mosques in Europe encourage Turks living in those countries to vote in Turkish elections. This is significant because more religious Turks, such as those likely to be regularly attending a mosque, are more likely to favor President Erdoğan's ruling AKP rather than the country's leading opposition party, the CHP.

Diyanet Offices Abroad

It has been reported that the Diyanet sends its sermons every week to 2,000 mosques, including those in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, and Norway. The Diyanet is also active in other countries, including Iran and Pakistan. The Diyanet's own 2019 Activity Report says that there were 62 permanent employees and 1,931 "temporary" employees of the Diyanet's Foreign Organization. These annual reports indicate that the Diyanet is rapidly expanding its foreign presence. In 2019 alone it opened additional mosques in Tokyo, Tanzania, Djibouti, the Netherlands, Cambridge, Cyprus, Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Another Diyanet document lists other mosques, in addition to those in the countries listed in this section, in various stages of construction in: Kazakhstan, Moscow, Belarus, Cologne, Somalia, Haiti, Gaza, Kyrgyzstan, Sweden, Chad, the Ivory Coast, Venezuela, and at Georgetown University.[7]

Not being limited to mosques, an article in a Diyanet magazine says that the number of properties that Turkish citizens have purchased and then given to the foundations and unions connected to the Diyanet are as follows: 377 in Germany; 60 in France; 53 in Belgium; 23 in Denmark; 82 in the Netherlands; four in Australia; six in Austria; one in the U.S.; and one in Switzerland.[8]

Diyanet In Germany

Diyanet İşleri Türk İslâm Birliği ("Turkish Islam Union For Religious Affairs," DITIB),[9] which is headquartered in Cologne and which the Diyanet lists in its Aile magazine as one of its foundations abroad, lists 908 "associations" on its website, nearly all of which are mosques or "Islamic cultural centers."[10] According to official records, DITIB, which was founded in 1984, has 900 mosque-associations in Germany. Based on information from the Turkish Embassy, there are 665 imams sent by the Diyanet for five years and 159 sent for two years, making 824 imams in total in the DITIB, or about one Diyanet imam for each DITIB mosque-association in Germany.[11]

The agency also wanted to investigate whether DITIB had a structural relationship with the Turkish Embassy in Berlin. The file that the agency sent to the state governments said: "DITIB General Director Nevzat Yaşar Aşıkoğlu is also an official at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin and the DITIB general director is chosen not by the members of DITIB, but by the Diyanet for a set term."[12] On December 25, 2017, Diyanet Minister Erbaş attended a DITIB conference at which Aşıkoğlu was re-elected DITIB general director. The Diyanet website posted a news report of the event on its official website.[13]

The German government's Left Party parliamentary group submitted a motion to parliament, saying: "The federal government is against the imams in DITIB mosques including duties that overstep the religious services of the Diyanet."[14] On August 30, 2018, it was reported that the German federal government had stopped giving DITIB funds for counterextremism and refugee aid programs.[15]

There have also been reports that Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı Dış İlişkiler Genel Müdürü Prof. Dr. Halife Keskin was being investigated by the German government for claims of espionage.[16] DITIB declined to participate in a "March Against Terror" in Cologne.[17] It was reported that "hateful" messages toward Jews and Christians had been shared on the organization's Facebook page.[18]

President Erdoğan and Diyanet Minister Erbaş attended the September 2018 opening of the Cologne Central Mosque. Josef Wirges, mayor of the district of Ehrenfeld, where the mosque is located, said that the Turkish government "misuses" the DITIB "for its own purposes." He said that he would attend the opening only if he was allowed to speak. Henriette Reker, mayor of Cologne known for her stances in defense of immigrants, said: "Unfortunately, because of the general conditions of the Turkish president, I reached the decision to stay away from the opening of the mosque. But my duty is to understand whether or not DITIB has carried out its current duties." Armin Laschet, minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia, said in the past that "the DITIB mosque is not the suitable place for the critical dialogue and open change that we are trying to achieve" and that he would not attend the opening ceremony. He said that he reached this decision because of the file on DITIB provided by Germany's domestic security service.[19] 

A ten-month espionage investigation by German police into 19 imams connected to DITIB who had reportedly transferred information to Ankara concerning members of the organization of Fethullah Gülen, which the Turkish government says tried to take over the Turkish government on the night of July 15, 2016, was closed in December 2017.[20] It was reported in August 2018 that Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, was considering whether or not to investigate DITIB again. The agency had sent the state governments of Germany a file of information about DITIB and asked those state governments to share the information and material that they had on DITIB and to give their opinion on the organization. The agency found that "especially due to the Turkish military operation in northern Syria, some DITIB mosque congregations have started anti-constitutional, nationalist, and religionist activities and made statements within that scope."

In January 2020, it was announced that the government of Germany, as part of a project to train imams, would open an "Islamic college," where imams would be trained, in the city of Osnabrück. The DITIB objected to this move, saying: "Training imams is the duty not of the state but of religious congregations."[21] In January 2020, DITIB began training imams in Germany. The courses are to be in German, and Dr. Markus Kerber, state secretary at the Federal Ministry Of The Interior, Building And Community, said that the training program was an important step, but that it was "only a first step." and Kazım Türkmen, DITIB president, said that the program was "a historical development" not only for DITIB but for Germany.[22]

In May 1, 2020, it was reported that the German state of Hessen would be ending its cooperation with DİTİB on the subject of Islamic courses, and that DİTİB was under criticism following reports by German experts that DİTİB was directly connected to the religious policy of the Diyanet, the AKP, and President Erdoğan.[23]

Diyanet In The Netherlands

The website for the Hollanda Diyanet Vakfı ("Diyanet Foundation Of The Netherlands," HDV), headed by General Secretary Murat Türkmen, lists 147 mosques run by the Diyanet in the Netherlands.[24] Diyanet lists HDV in its Aile magazine as one of its foundations abroad.[25] Diyanet Minister Erbaş gave a talk there in June 2019.[26] 6,377 people have "liked" the HDV Facebook page.[27]

In February 2018, it was reported that the government of the Netherlands had begun an investigation into a sermon given at an HDV mosque in the country titled: "Jihad: Struggle With [One's] Life And Property In The Path Of Allah." The sermon that had been given that week in mosques in Turkey said: "Entering into armed battle for the believer's faith, existence, homeland, continuation, and freedom is the highest level of jihad... Every son of the homeland who sips the elixir of martyrdom in the spring of his life exclaims to us this good news from our lord: 'Verily, do not say of those who are killed in the path of Allah that they are 'dead.' They are alive, but you cannot comprehend it."

Netherlands Social Affairs Minister Wouter Koolmees said: "The sermon that praised jihad and mentioned the sweetness of the elixir of martyrdom was absolutely unacceptable." He announced that an investigation had been started and that a statement would be requested from Turkish authorities. The sermon was given within the context of a Turkish invasion of northern Syria, called Operation Olive Branch, in January-March 2018. Koolmees further said: "We do not want Dutch young people of Turkish heritage to be affected by these sermons and join the Turkish war. We must prevent this." Diyanet authorities in the Hague denied the report, saying: "This is not possible. For one year we have been giving our own sermons in place of the formal texts [used] in Turkey. This week the Friday sermon was about doing good deeds."[28]

A sermon dated October 18, 2019, and marked with the HDV emblem reads in part: "In some cities in the Netherlands, Operation Peace Spring, which our country started in recent days against terror organizations, is being protested by advocates of terror organizations... May the Lord help our security forces and protect our homeland and our nation from every kind of danger." The sermon also called on families to keep young people from going out into the street to confront these protesters.[29]

In December 2016, Netherlands Foreign Minister Bert Koenders announced that Yusuf Acar, religious affairs attache at the Turkish Embassy in the Hague, had been carrying out intelligence activities concernning people and organizations connected to Fethullah Gülen and had been recalled.[30]

On July 10, 2019, the HDV website reported that that on June 21 of that year, Diyanet Minister Erbaş had visited the Netherlands on the occasion of the opening of the Venlo Tevhid Mosque, which is associated with the HDV.[31]

Diyanet In France

The Diyanet's arm in France, which, like the German arm, goes by the acronym DITIB, counts 207 "associations," most of which are mosques, on its four branch websites.[32]

On February 20, 2020, it was reported that the French government had shut down the French bank accounts of DITIB and the foundations and associations associated with it, and that starting in 2024, imams would not be allowed to enter the country from abroad.[33] Ahead of the April 2017 referendum in Turkey, a ballot box was placed outside of the DITIB building in Lyon.[34] The referendum was held to determine whether the country would approve 18 proposed amendments put forward by the AKP and MHP to the country's constitution. The amendments abolished the office of prime minister and further consolidated power for the office of president, held by Erdoğan.

The matter of ballot boxes in Diyanet mosques and buildings in Europe, and of Diyanet practices that encourage Turks living abroad in countries such as France, Austria, and Denmark to vote in Turkish elections is significant because there is a perception that Turks living abroad generally favor the AKP,[35] and that more religious Turks, such as those likely to be regularly attending a mosque, are more likely to favor the AKP rather than the leading opposition party, the CHP. President Erdoğan also works to win favor with these voters.[36] A Turkish sociologist working at a Germany-based think tank recently published an article proposing that, though the AKP currently gets the most votes from Turks living outside of Turkey, the newly formed Gelecek and DEVA parties, headed by former prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and former deputy prime minister Ali Babacan, respectively, may divide the diaspora Turkish vote.[37]

In the summer of 2018, after a French Jewish woman was killed, 300 people, including former president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime minister Manuel Valls, signed a document calling for certain verses of the Quran to be "struck to obsolescence by religious authorities." Diyanet Minister Erbaş said: "We severely condemn this type of provocation, which will hurt all of the Muslims of the world and disrupt world peace, and we invite the whole public opinion of the world to be more considerate and just."[38] Diyanet magazine published an article titled "The Organizing Of The Muslim Community In France And The Function Of Mosques And Associations In Protecting Turkish Muslim Identity."[39]

On January 9, 2020, the website of France's DITIB wrote about how Diyanet Minister Erbaş had asked for the Al-Fatiha chapter of the Quran to be recited for the souls of Turkish soldiers participating in Operation Peace Fountain who were killed by a car bomb at a checkpoint in northern Syria.[40]

On January 5, 2019, the website of France's DITIB reported that Erbaş was in France to attend a DITIB general council, meet with religious authorities in Strasbourg, and visit the Yunus Emre School, among other things. Erbaş reportedly said: "We are guides and leaders. We must raise our Muslim brothers and sisters here in a way that guards their Islamic sensitivities." He also said: "The greatest value that we can leave to our young people is the holy Quran and the Sunnah of the prophet."[41]

Diyanet publications also discuss the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, at whose offices two jihadis killed 12 people and injured 11 others on January 7, 2015, after the weekly ran cartoons of Muhammad. Then Diyanet minister Mehmet Görmez, after first being criticized for not making a statement on the attack, said in a January 8 statement: "No one and no Muslim can answer, with ugly methods of which [Muhammad] would never approve, the disrespectful and base thoughts against the prophet that exploit freedom of expression."[42]

The attack is mentioned at least a dozen other times in Diyanet publications. Many of the articles that mention Charlie Hebdo and were written after the attack took place fail to mention the attack at all, and some mention only the weekly's "insults" to Muhammad or complain about how anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe increased after the attack.[43]

One article, published June 25, 2018, describes Philippe Val as "the former writer and co-founder of humor magazine Charlie Hebdo, representative of the French foot of the Islamophobia clamor in Europe. You know, that magazine that followed the path of Jyllands-Posten in Denmark and published cartoons that insulted our beloved prophet."[44] The article makes no mention of the attack.

Another article, published April 1, 2015, less than three months after the attack, reads: "Events such as the cartoon crisis in Denmark along with Charlie Hebdo in France show clearly that the Western world's insincerity on the subject of living with the other."[45]

One writer wrote: "To comprehend the background of the events in our day and in the recent past, be it the cartoon crisis, or the South Park event, or the Charlie Hebdo event, or other incidents that appear to be local but do not quite count as discrete incidents, and to clarify the issue, it is necessary to do a strong historical reading by turning back." Without mentioning the attack, the writer goes on to discuss how Western culture and civilization has consciously sustained "a conscious policy of otherization."[46]

Another writer wrote: "For example, in the first 24 hours after the armed raid on the Charlie Hebdo magazine on January 7, 2015, the 3,400,000 posts on social media; the event being turned in placards, in the media, and on the internet into a symbol of support for independent press and freedom of speech and this being used to legitimize Islamophobic posts; are all important in showing the speed and frequency with which posts and comments on social media set the agenda."[47]

While there is a condemnation of the attack in the article, it is followed immediately by an expression of hope that the West will reflect on its "exploitation of free speech." It reads: "To condemn and curse the inauspicious Charlie Hebdo raid and massacre in Paris is a humane duty that that no one with a conscience can neglect. The decisive reaction given to this event and the prudent approach of the French public are promising for the future. I hope that moving from here that Western politics and intelligentsia will develop a self-criticism on many subjects, including the exploitation of free speech as well as a language of common sense."[48]

Diyanet In Switzerland

The İsviçre Türk Diyanet Vakfı ("Turkish Diyanet Foundation Of Switzerland," ITDV) lists 46 associations on its website.[49] In September 2017, Swiss parliament approved a package of laws limiting the number of imams that Diyanet can send to Switzerland as well as limiting their "material options."[50] The ITDV website lists a July 15 Democracy Victory And Martyrs Memorial Program.[51]

One article in a Diyanet magazine commented following the 2009 constitutional amendment banning the construction of new minarets in Switzerland, which was approved by a referendum. The article read: "When there are minarets in a country, Muslims assume that they are members [of that country]. The other meaning of the referendum for Muslims living Switzerland was perceived as 'you do not belong here.'"[52] On August 28, 2019, the İTDV website reported that Diyanet Minister Erbaş had presided over the İTDV's 16th general council.[53]

Diyanet In Austria

On June 8, 2018, it was reported that the Austrian government had deported close to 60 imams financed by the Turkish government and their families and would close seven mosques.[54]

On February 20, 2015, the ATIKSYB website published a public service announcement from Turkey's High Election Council providing a link to a video explaining how Turks living abroad could participate in an upcoming parliamentary election in Turkey.[55] On February 25, 2015, it was reported that a law forbidding the Diyanet to send imams to work in mosques in Austria and also forbidding associations connected to Muslim congregations, mosques, and imams to receive funding from abroad.[56]

Diyanet In Denmark

The Danimarka Türk Diyanet Vakfı ("Turkish Diyanet Foundation Of Denmark," DTDV) lists 29 associations on its website[57] and 4,300 people "like" the DTDV Facebook page.[58] A report on the DTDV website reported an event at the Ballerup Mosque Association commemorating martyrs. Text on the page reads: "What makes a flag a flag is the blood that's on it. Soil is a homeland if someone has died for it."[59] An announcement on the DTDV website from Turkey's High Elections Council encourages Turks living abroad to vote, saying that they will be able to vote between March 28 and April 9, 2017, in the referendum. The announcement includes a video with instructions on how to vote.[60]

Diyanet In Belgium And Norway

The Belçika Diyanet Vakfı ("Diyanet Foundation Of Belgium," BDV) lists 72 associations on its website.[61] On March 15, 2017, it was reported that Belgium had rejected the visa applications of four Turkish imams.[62] The Norveç Diyanet Vakfı (Diyanet Foundation of Norway, NDV) lists four mosques on its website.[63] On November 8, 2015, the NDV website published a report about then Diyanet minister Mehmet Görmez's speech at a ceremony in honor of the 16 Turkish soldiers killed in a September 6 attack. Görmez quoted Quran 3:169, saying: "Do not say that the martyrs are dead."[64]

Diyanet In U.S., U.K., Australia, And Canada

The Diyanet Center Of America lists 26 mosques on its website.[65] President Erdoğan himself attended the opening ceremony of the Diyanet's Turkish-American Culture and Civilization Center in Maryland in April 2016.[66] The Turkish Religious Foundation Of The United Kingdom lists five mosques on its website.[67] While the Kanada Diyanet Vakfı ("Diyanet Foundation Of Canada," KDV) of does not have its own website, 373 people have "liked" its Facebook page.[68] News reports also describe its charitable activities.[69]

The Avustralya Diyanet Vakfı ("Diyanet Foundation Of Australia," ADV) lists eight mosques on its website.[70] On July 29, 2019, the ADV website reported: "At all of our mosques, khatms were recited for all our martyrs, above all the July 15 martyrs." A khatm is a recitation of the Quran from beginning to end.[71] On April 15, 2019, the ADV website reported that Diyanet Minister Erbaş had visited Australia and visited mosques in Redfern and Erskineville. He led an evening prayer in the Auburn Gelibolu Mosque, and met with representatives of civil society organizations in Sydney.[72]

Diyanet In Iran And Pakistan

Diyanet Minister Erbaş said, on a December 2018 visit to Iran, that "the two countries [i.e., Iran and Turkey] have many benefits to offer to the service of the ummah" and that the "Zionist and imperialist powers" were not happy with the developing relations between the two countries.[73]

In December 2019, the Diyanet released a statement concerning an agreement that it had signed with Iran's Institute of Culture and Islamic Communication. The statement, which was in response to claims on social media, which the Diyanet denied, that, under the agreement, Iranian experts would be giving fiqh ("Islamic jurisprudence") lessons to Turkish theology professors, said that the agreement was concerning, among other things: "The preparation of joint digital publications in the battle against Islamophobia, particularly in the West... making schedules and preparing publications concerning the joint problems of the ummah, particularly the matter of Jerusalem."[74] In November 2019, it was reported that an elementary school that the Diyanet built in Pakistan had opened.[75]