How does Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) act as an instrument of foreign policy (FP)? What are the factors that allow such an instrumentalization of Islam in Turkish FP? In addressing these questions, this paper uses semi-structured expert interviews from Bulgaria and the Netherlands. Although both countries host a sizeable Muslim minority, these populations differ in their characteristics and historical ties with Turkey. ComparingDiyanet’s role in the Netherlands with its recent Turkish-Muslim diaspora, and in Bulgaria with its centuries-old Muslim minority allows us to reveal variation in the practical engagement strategies that Diyanet adopts in different country contexts. Thus, this paper advances two main claims; first,Diyanetserves as a primary FP tool of Turkey in countries with a significant Turkish-Muslim minority. Secondly, this instrumentalization destabilizes secularization projects both at home and abroad.
What are the reasons behind the failure of the Islamic theology and imamtraining programmes at the Dutch universities? To address this question, we employed qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews (N = 38) conducted between July 2016 and January 2017. The sample consists of stakeholders such as academics teaching in the programmes, imams, Qur'an teachers, chairs of the largest Islamic organisations, and Dutch ministry and municipality officials. We analysed the establishment of the state-funded Islamic theology and imam-training programmes in the Netherlands in the light of the different theoretical accounts about the evolution of Dutch secularism after the de-pillarisation of the Dutch society. The findings suggest that the failure of the programmes stemmed from distrust in the intentions of the funding by the Dutch government, lack of confidence in the expertise of the non-Muslim academics teaching the programmes and refusal by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), to cooperate with the universities for the setup of the programmes. This study shows that future attempts for Islamic theology programmes in the Dutch universities will need to establish better connections with the grassroots of the Dutch Muslim communities.
This article explores how mosque pedagogy was imported from Turkey through imams who were appointed to the Netherlands, and textbooks developed and printed in Turkey. Furthermore, this article examines how a range of contextual factors have reshaped the imported pedagogy in mosque classes. The factors identified in the analysis include language policies, the influence of pedagogical practices in mainstream Dutch schools, concerns about student motivation, and in the backdrop of fears of cultural alienation and assimilation in a Western context, the imperative of nurturing an Islamic and Turkish identity among ethnic minority children. This paper is based on a case study in a Turkish mosque in the Netherlands. The findings demonstrate how a myriad of individual, societal, cultural and institutional factors reshaped imported pedagogy. At the same time, this paper highlights how mosque pedagogy is not only an educational matter but increasingly immersed within competing societal and political agendas of two states.
This article provides an overview of the discourses on Dutch mosque education. Based on a review of the scholarly debates on mosque education in West, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles containing references to mosque education between 2010 and 2016 (N = 45). The data are sampled from the five largest Dutch newspapers. Most of the themes emerging from the literature are also reflected in the discourses on mosque education in the press. In line with other media analysis on representation of Muslims, the portrayal of mosque education in the Dutch press is also mainly negative. The key issues in the press portrayals included use of corporal punishment, inadequate training of imams, reinforcement of conservative gender norms, intensification of social segregation, links with religious extremism and local opposition to mosques. Fewer references concern the positive influence of mosque education on cognitive skills and identity development of the Muslim children.
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