The crosses have been removed: Hagia Sophia Istanbul Old City, Turkey. Photo: Emre Ergen
Erdogan and Islam: Religion as Trojan Horse for political influence in Germany
Yesterday, the first official Islamic Friday prayer took place at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The controversy of the re-conversion of the former Christian Orthodox cathedral into a mosque is also hotly being discussed in Europe.
Published: July 25, 2020, 10:37 am
The church’s transformation into the mosque is considered a personal project of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the start of the inauguration ceremony, the Turkish president recited the opening passage of the Quran. The guests at the ceremony in the Hagia Sophia as well as prayer participants who followed the events from video walls erected around the imposing former church building, answered with “Allahu Akbar” calls.
In Germany, too, Erdogan uses the Turkish variant of Islamism for his policy of influence. The radical Sunni Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüs (IGMG) has a network of more than 300 mosque communities in Germany. In total, the IGMG is said to have more than 30 000 members in Germany. The ideology of Milli Görüs [National World View] is strictly Sunni Islamist and Turkish nationalist, strongly opposed to Muslim integration into European society.
The Turkish state and the ruling party AKP evidently uses the IGMG to exert political and cultural influence in Germany. But both Ankara and the IGMG leadership deny this. Nevertheless, there are numerous indications that allow conclusions to be drawn about the IGMG being centrally coordinated from Turkey.
German authorities are well aware of the participation of diplomats from the Turkish embassy and consulates in IGMG events. With the AKP member of parliament and former Milli Görüs General Secretary Mustafa Yeneroglu, there is another lever of Turkish control and influence: Yeneroglu currently heads the AKP’s “Election Coordination Centre for Foreign Countries”.
In Germany, the IGMG is a member of the Islamic Council of Germany, the Islamrat für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, which in turn is a founding member of the Koordinationsrats der Muslime.
The Coordination Council of Muslims (KRM) in Germany was established more than a decade ago as a working platform of the four largest Islamic organisations in the country. The majority of mosque communities are represented in the KRM through its member organisations.
But this is a murky affair at best. The cooperation in the KRM is based on common rules of procedure which were signed by the four founding members. This essentially means that the KRM is not a registered association, so it does not have an independent legal personality.
The day-to-day business of the KRM is coordinated by the respective speaker function. It was not known whether the KRM had its own staff or whether member associations send their staff to the KRM. In 2008, the Islamic newspaper criticized the fact that the KRM had no employees, no budget, no lobby office in Berlin, no website of its own and hardly a clearly defined programme. It is not known whether the KRM acts as a separate organisation or primarily has a coordinating function.
In July 2019, the establishment of “country structures” was announced without providing further details.
According to the Berlin-based expert on Turkey, Ralph Ghadban, the Islam which is being preached in Turkish-controlled mosques in Europe is a “Sharia Islam with strong Turkish-nationalist overtones” that calls for a “strict separation from Western individualistic values”. He also says that the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) has been strengthening its ties to Milli Görüs.
The IGMG organisation is monitored by the Verfassungsschutz , the German domestic intelligence service.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
Europe
New App Helps Locate Sweden’s Historic Runestones
A new app called Swedish Runestones will help locate historical gems.
Swedish military wants to remilitarize the Åland Islands
The demilitarized autonomy has previously been known as 'the islands of peace.
NOAA Predicts Zero Sunspots for Almost the Whole 2030s
CLIMATEThe United States' government scientific organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), predicts zero sunspots from 2031 to 2040. This is an extreme situation that has not occurred in as long as humanity has been counting sunspots, and it leads us into uncharted territory in terms of our solar system. However, this prediction aligns with the warnings of the world-renowned solar researcher Valentina Zharkova for many years, who indicated in 2019 various signs of this catastrophic phenomenon, including the extreme hailstorms we have seen in Europe and the world this summer. The forecast and various observations this year give cause for very significant concern. In this unique analysis, Free West Media explains why.
European Nationalist Parties Forge Cooperation Ahead of EU Elections
EUROPEAN ELECTIONSOn Saturday, August 26, representatives of six European nationalist parties gathered in Budapest. The meeting was initiated by the Hungarian party Mi Hazánk and took place in the national parliament. Representatives of the parties signed a joint declaration that not only reaffirms the parties' friendship but also their unity on a range of complex political issues. A surprisingly clear and radical manifesto was established. The hope is that this cooperation will lead to success in the EU elections and eventually result in the formation of a group in the European Parliament. For Swedish nationalism, this meeting marks a success as Sweden, for the first time, has a party represented in a leading nationalist cooperation in Europe. Free West Media was present at this historic event.
Turkey Believes Sweden Hasn’t Done Enough
Sweden will have to wait a bit longer for NATO membership, according to Turkey's Justice Minister Jilmaz Tunc. First, Sweden must extradite the "terrorists" Turkey wants and stop the desecration of the Quran.
Swedish Weapon Takes Down Russia’s Best Attack Helicopter
The Russian attack helicopter Ka-52 is considered one of the world's best and has struck fear in Ukraine, where it has hunted down tanks and other armored vehicles, often beyond the range of many light anti-aircraft systems. However, it has met its match in the Swedish air defense missile system RBS 70, which has quickly led to significant losses for the Russian helicopter forces.
The Sun Drives Earth’s Climate, Not Carbon Dioxide
Top Researchers Push Back Against Climate Lies."The correlation is as clear as day," explained the Israeli astrophysicist Nir Shaviv, who was hailed by the establishment, before his interview with Forbes was hastily deleted. What he says contradicts the climate narrative, which points to humans as responsible for Earth's climate. Shaviv firmly asserts that it is the sun that controls the climate, something that can be scientifically proven in many ways. Contrary to the popular belief, the sun's influence on Earth has, in recent years, caused unusually cold and rainy weather, a trend that solar researchers warn will worsen significantly in the coming decades. The sun has exhibited an unusually low activity since 2016, during Solar Cycle 24, which was the weakest in a century.
Strong Confidence in German AfD
Alternative for Germany (AfD) held a party conference on July 29-30 to select candidates for the upcoming EU election next year. EU Parliament member Maximilian Krah, belonging to the party's more radical, ethnonationalist faction, was appointed as the top candidate. The party's two spokespersons delivered powerful speeches criticizing the EU's failed migration policy and trade sanctions that isolate Europe and Germany from the rest of the world. They argued that it's time for the EU to return a significant portion of its power to national parliaments. However, they have dropped the demand for Germany to exit the EU.
The Establishment Wants to Ban Germany’s Second Largest Party – for the Sake of Democracy
The rising popularity of AfD has raised strong concerns within the establishment. Despite lies and demonization in the media and isolation from the overall political establishment, the party continues to grow. Certain representatives of the party are accused of becoming increasingly "extreme," and in an unusual move, the influential weekly newspaper Der Spiegel demanded that AfD be "banned."
Dutch FvD break through the media blockade
What is happening in the Netherlands? It is often difficult to follow events in other countries, especially when distorted by system media. We give Forum for Democracy (FvD) the opportunity to speak out on the political situation in the Netherlands and the staunch resistance they face in trying to save the country.
One comment
Turkey will eventually influence German politics until the Bundes party grows a pair and throw these people out. Germany is on the brink of annihilation. Just mind boggling how the Germans allowed their chancellor Merkel to let in thousands of moslims into their country!! The guilt of the old Nazi party must be so overwhelming that expiation for its diabolical past are for the moslems to determine judgement on them. Poor hapless Germany.
By submitting a comment you grant Free West Media a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.