Religious discourse has formed one of the main pillars of Turkish foreign policy under the rule of the AKP, despite the stipulation in the constitution that Turkey is a secular state. Under the AKP, religious discourse is not only used on the domestic scene, but it is also employed in Turkey’s external relations, projecting an image of a leading force in the Islamic world, within the context of reviving the Ottoman legacy adopted by President Erdogan and his regime.

 Tools of “Islamic Diplomacy”

The AKP has deployed “Religious diplomacy” to establish a religious presence and role for Turkey, relying on both governmental and non-governmental organizations, whose influence within Turkey have expanded greatly, to realize its foreign policy agenda. The most important of these organisations include: 

1- The Presidency of Religious Affairs “Diyanet”: “Diyanet” was established in 1924 as an independent government entity for religious affairs, with very limited authority. Its influence grew under AKP rule, to the extent it is now regarded as conferring legitimacy on the regime. It has become legally and constitutionally responsible for all issues related to Islam and to Muslims, not only within Turkey, but also abroad. As per law 6002, “Diyanet” has the authority to hire advisors to work in other countries across the globe to strengthen relations between the institutions there and Turkey. Its mandate covers educational and other services, as well as community service projects to Muslims across the world. 

This agency moreover runs more than 8500 mosques in Turkey, and over 2000 mosques across the world, including over 1000 in Germany. “Diyanet Center” in the United States is one of this agency’s largest projects, and functions as a mosque as well as a cultural center, working in full coordination with “Diyanet” headquarters in Turkey. This center is promoted as the largest Turkish Islamic center in the western hemisphere. It is worth noting that “Diyanet” distributes the weekly Friday sermon read in all the mosques it supervises all over the world. This has led some countries to ban its funding to mosques within their territories, accusing this agency of propagating extremist ideas, as well as serving the political interests of the Turkish regime, especially when in attacking opposition figures abroad. 

Despite the economic difficulties Turkey is currently facing, “Diyanet” website indicates that it seeks to expand over the coming 2 years. Its annual budget, in Turkish Liras, is expected to grow from 11.6 billion in 2020 to 12.4 billion in 2021 and 13,2 billion in 2022. This budget far exceeds funds allocated to other ministries and governmental institutions, reflecting its importance to the ruling party. 

2- The Turkish Agency for Cooperation and Coordination “TIKA”: This agency was first established by ministerial decree in 1992, as a charitable organization. Its mission was defined as enhancing economic, educational, and media cooperation between Islamic communities, especially in Muslim majority countries in southeast Asia and the Caucuses. This mandate changed when the AKP came to power. “TIKA” now operates in all Muslim countries, as well as Africa and the Middle East. Its activities are no longer confined to humanitarian assistance, as it now actively promotes Turkish political ideas, Turkish education, and makes available scholarships to study Islam in Turkey, drawing on a common religious and cultural heritage with these countries. The agency has given special attention to Africa and has established offices in over 35 countries, in addition to supervising a large number of mosques. 

3- The Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs in Germany (DİTİB): This organization was established in 1984, bringing together mosques and Islamic charities in Germany under one umbrella. It is the largest Islamic organization in Germany, and one of the largest in Europe . It is considered to be a means to enhancing Turkish influence in Germany, through religious education in schools and overseeing mosques and Islamic centers. 

Multiple Objectives 

Turkey is pursuing several objectives in employing Islamic religious discourse on the domestic and international levels, these include:  

1- Legitimizing regime policies: President Erdogan frequently uses religious discourse to justify his foreign policy, and interventions in other countries. Turkey’s external interventions have ranged from deploying military forces abroad to providing political and economic assistance to Islamist parties in other countries, under the pretext of helping Muslim peoples to overthrow their oppressive authoritarian regimes. 

 Turkey also uses Islamic symbols in describing and legitimising its foreign policy interventions. For example, the Turkish Ministry of Endowments described operation “Olive Branch” in Afrin as being “the Greater Jihad” and described the Turkish army as the “Last Islamic Army”, and all its casualties as martyrs. 

Religious Fatwas have been one of the most important tools that have supported Turkish foreign policy as per the global index for Fatwas GFI. It showed in 2020 that Turkey has used religious fatwas to recruit preachers, Islamist groups, and militias to support Erdogan’s ambitions abroad. In Libya for instance, Turkey was able to co-opt the Libyan sheikh, Amro Mawlood Abdelhamid, to issue a fatwa legitimising the request by the Transitional Government in Libya for military assistance from Turkey.  He described this request as a religiously sanctioned right, because both Turkey and Libya are Muslim states, who are confronting an aggressing foe, referring to Russia. Libyan sheikh Elsadek Elgheriany, who is closely allied with the Muslim Brotherhood, furthermore decreed  Turkish intervention as legitimate, and property seized by the militias and foreign fighters were legitimate spoils of war. 

In another context, the Syrian Islamic Council, which is headquartered in Istanbul, praised Turkey’s efforts to counter Iranian influence in Syria. On its part “El Sham Islamic Agency”, which is affiliated to the Syrian Islamic Council, issued decreeing that to refuse to call on Turkey for help reflects a rigid and erroneous understanding of Islam. The fatwa sanctioned the participation in Turkish operations in the north of Syria, as they fall under the category of seeking the help of fellow Muslims against an infidel foe. 

 2- Mobilising the Turkish Diaspora: The above-mentioned Turkish organisations have been extremely active in connecting to the Turkish diaspora around the world, seeking to gain their loyalty, for a variety of reasons, including: 

1. Preventing other Islamist groups from penetrating Turkish migrant groups abroad, especially groups that are in opposition to the regime.
2. The formation of interest groups and support networks that are loyal to the current Turkish regime, to use them in promotional campaigns for the AKP and Erdogan, as well as functioning as an electoral base that helps keep the party in power.
3. Drawing on the economic resources of the Turkish diaspora, as these networks of Turkish migrants and their remittances have long been a source of foreign currency and of contributions to the AKP . 
4. The AKP believes it needs these networks for political support, to pressure host countries regarding issues of contention with Turkey.

 3- Intelligence Gathering Role: In recent years there have been reports that Turkish Islamic organizations have been used to gather information for Erdogan and the AKP. Both German and French Intelligence have warned of the expanding infiltration of European societies by these Turkish organizations. Some European countries, including Austria and Germany, have interrogated some Turkish imams regarding suspicions they were involved in gathering information on behalf of Turkish intelligence. The Austrian parliament recently voted to close down all mosques run by “Diyanet”, arguing that these mosques no longer function as places of worship, but serve the interests of the Turkish regime. 

 4- Creating New Islamic Alliances: In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Turkey sought to strengthen its ties with Islamist groups in various Arab countries, to give Turkey influence in the emerging, post-revolutionary governments. The Muslim Brotherhood was among the most prominent of these, and has played an important role in the shaping of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey has also reached out to militias in Syria and Libya, providing them with funds and military aid, under the guise of protecting Muslims, as a means of extending its influence in the region. 

 5- Playing the refugee card: Ankara has used Islamic rhetoric in dealing with the crisis of refugees fleeing conflict countries such as Syria. The regime has expressed its solidarity with these refugees in Islamic terms denoting that their support is a religious duty. President Erdogan has also used this rhetoric to overcome growing domestic opposition to the influx of refugees, in view of Turkey’s current economic problems. Many inside and outside Turkey believe President Erdogan is using the refugee issue, which represents a national security problem for EU countries, as a bargaining card with Europe, both regarding Turkey’s application for membership in the EU, and its request for European financial aid to help Turkey cope with the refugee crisis.