by Veli Sirin
Hudson Institute New York
August 2, 2011
http://www.islamicpluralism.org/1850/islamist-and-nationalist-radicalism-among-german
   
  Of the many signs that point to the growing influence among Turks and Kurds living in Germany of the Justice and Development Party [AKP], which represents an "updated" Islamist ideology, the worst aspect of it is that it will likely go unopposed.

The June 2011 election victory in Turkey by AKP, headed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, provoked debate in both Western and Muslim countries, but few commentators have analyzed the impact of AKP's third triumph at the polls on Germans of Turkish and Kurdish origin or heritage – the main Turkish immigrant community in the West, with as many as four million members, or five percent of Germany's total census.
Turkish residents of Germany have the right to vote in Turkish elections. According to the leading organization representing the Sunni Muslim majority among them, the Türkische Gemeinde Deutschlands (Turkish Community of Germany or TGD), 63 percent of German Turks participating in the vote cast ballots for AKP and Erdoğan. Kenan Kolat, federal chair of TGD, told media that the pro-AKP result among German Turkish voters in the Turkish poll was a "legitimate representation of Turkish opinion."
AKP gained support among German Turks because of the European economic crisis. The discontent of German Turks is considerable; this leads to a greater appeal for AKP. At the same time, rising prosperity in Turkey has produced an unusual trend according to which, since 2005, the number of Turks repatriating from Germany exceeds the number of Turks emigrating to Germany.
But Erdoğan has been criticized because of the failure of Turkey under his leadership to gain accession to the European Union, as well as for AKP's Islamist ideology. TGD's Kolat emphasized that Erdoğan is committed to EU membership.
Members of the Alevi Muslim minority – influenced by Shia, spiritual Sufi, and pre-Islamic shamanic traditions – and other moderate Turks and Kurds living in Germany are afraid of AKP, which seeks to recruit Turkish community leaders abroad. In 2010, AKP invited German Turks active in political life to visit Turkey. Its message to 1,500 people who accepted the offer was clear: Turks living outside their native country should accept citizenship in their new place of residence, and become politically active, but should refuse cultural integration, according to prime minister Erdoğan, speaking at a banquet for the participants. The AKP leader went on to condemn dual citizenship as an offense against human rights.
The AKP government's vision of German Turkish political representation was articulated in publicity for the tour and banquet by German Turkish leaders, which was supervised by current Turkish state minister for labor and social security Faruk Çelik, who referred to the Germans as "our honorable representatives" and to Erdoğan as "our prime minister." Çelik has also caused controversy by referring to Christians as "unbelievers."
The involvement of Turkish-born political and religious representatives from Germany in this effort added to sharp criticism directed at AKP. Alevi community leader Ali Ertan Toprak, who participated in the visit and banquet, said "this was quite clearly a lobbying event for the Turkish authorities." He said he was startled at how openly the Turkish regime argued that German Turks should represent Turkish state interests. "Opponents of Turkish membership in the EU, from among the German Christian Democrats, would have found a lot of material for their arguments," according to Toprak.
The parliamentary representative and international relations spokesperson for the Left party (Die Linke – mainly ex-Communists) in the German Bundestag, Sevim Dağdelen, referred to a "hidden foreign policy" pursued by Ankara. "I would not want any part of it," she said. "I consider it unfortunate and doubtful that any German politician would participate in it."
The election and the well-publicized tour were just two items demonstrating expanded AKP activity among German Turks. Another is the functioning of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği or DiTiB), the extraterritorial Turkish Sunni authority in Germany. Operating from Köln-Ehrenfeld, DiTiB is an umbrella organization for religious, social, and cultural activities based in the Turkish mosques in Germany. DiTiB is managed, controlled, and supervised by Diyanet, the State Islamic Administration of the Republic of Turkey, based in Ankara, and, indirectly, by the office of the Turkish prime minister.