‘Turkey‐Islam’: recipe for success or hindrance to the integration of the Turkish diaspora community in Germany?1

Abstract

This paper focuses on Fetullah Gülen's concept of ‘Turkey‐Islam’ (Türkiye Müslümanliği), which was brought into public discussion by this well‐known Turkish preacher in 1995. This concept propounded by Gülen is examined to assess its impact on the Turkish Diaspora in Germany. In this context, the historical development of the shape of Turkish Islam since the foundation of Turkey will be dealt with. As Gülen's concept of ‘Turkey‐Islam’ in many respects is based on preceding ideologies such as the ‘Turkish‐Islamic Synthesis’, which originated from the society of conservative intellectuals, Aydınlar Ocağı, in the 1970s, he developed a semi‐official ideology of state based on religious as well as on national perception of Turkish history. Finally, further questions concerning the ideas of Gülen himself will be examined: how does Gülen define ‘Turkey‐Islam’; what worldview emerges from ‘Turkey‐Islam’ as a symbiosis of national and religious elements and what is the subject of its mission; and how far could this mission succeed in integrating the Turkish Diaspora in German society? These questions will be summed up on the basis of Gülen's thesis and its critical analysis.