Turkey's religious diplomacy!

2024-10-10 17:26:10 / IDE NGA SOKOL NEçAJ

Turkey's religious diplomacy!

One of the most prominent dimensions of Turkish foreign policy in the last decade is religious diplomacy, which began to play a major role in expanding Ankara's influence. Until the early 2000s, Turkey mainly pursued a one-dimensional foreign policy based on a Western orientation despite various pressures from society to open up to different parts of the world, such as the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Balkans. . Before that, whenever a crisis appeared, like the war in Bosnia, the state elite, in order to satisfy social pressure, acted mainly with ad hoc policies.

With the coming to power of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, or AK Party) in 2002, religious diplomacy became a feature of Turkish foreign policy.
Religious diplomacy is implemented not only by state institutions, but also through engaging the active contributions of civil society organizations. Today, Turkey's religious diplomacy is much more sophisticated and comprehensive than many think. Institutions that implement and develop religious diplomacy in Turkey have been reformatted, both structurally and content-wise.

This is a new phenomenon in Turkey's conventional or traditional approach to foreign and security policy, as Turkey is constitutionally a secular state.
After the arrival of the CA in power, the primary change was conceptual. Turkey no longer sees the world through the glasses of the Cold War, but instead has re-conceptualized the meaning of international politics in a new framework.

This conceptual transformation is a consequence of the international political circumstances, as much as of the political dynamics of Turkey. As a result, there have been radical changes in Turkey's approach to Africa, Latin America, the Balkans and Asia. According to this new perspective, these regions are considered as partners with whom political and economic relations should be established and developed and where it is possible to take unified actions.
The second transformation is Turkey's attempt to reposition itself in a dynamic global economy. During this period, Turkey has tried to have a new approach based especially on historical and cultural components.

Së treti, paralelisht me aspektet intelektuale dhe ekonomike të përmendura më lart, duhet të rriten bazat politike të hapjes së Turqisë.
Që nga viti 2003 kur ministri i jashtëm turk në atë kohë, Abdullah Gul,shpalli vendimin për të përdorur diplomacinë fetare në nivelin institucional, Turqia i ka dhënë një rëndësi të veçantë marrëdhënieve të saj me botën Islamike dhe synon dinamizimin e Organizatës së Konferencës Islamike në arenën ndërkombëtare dhe ta shndërrojë atë në një strukturë më efektive dhe dinamike.
Diplomacia fetare e Turqisë realizohet në një pjesë të madhe nga shumë organizata të shoqërisë civile, grupe dhe figura fetare.
Presidenca e Çështjeve Fetare të Turqisë (Diyanet) është organi qeveritar që - çuditërisht për një shtet që e identifikon veten si laik - merret me të gjitha çështjet fetare të shumicës myslimane sunite të vendit. Diyanet punëson dhe paguan pagat e hoxhallarëve, organizon jetën fetare dhe vepron si autoriteti më i lartë fetar në çështjet e doktrinës dhe praktikës. Që nga themelimi, roli i Diyanet ka qenë gjithmonë i diskutueshëm, pasi Turqia, ndryshe nga Arabia Saudite dhe Irani, me kushtetutë është shtet laik, por gjatë 35 viteve të fundit është bërë aktor kryesor në politikën e jashtme turke.
Diyanet ka filluar misionet brenda vendit për edukimin e qytetarëve me Islamin tradicional turk, jo vetem per myslimanet Suni, por edhe ata të traditave Alevi.

Ky organizëm puneson afër 100 mijë vete dhe ka një buxhet më të madh se shumica e ministrive të Turqisë. Diyanet është ndoshta organizata fetare myslimane më e madhe dhe më e centralizuar në botë, qe krahasohet vetëm me Vatikanin.

Diyanet sot është më shumë në traditën e Zyrës së Şeyh-ül Islam dhe gjithnjë e më pak e fsheh këtë trashëgimi. Deri në vitet 1980, detyrat e Diyanet kishin të bënin vetem me myslimanët e Turqisë. Por pas grushtit të shtetit të vitit 1980, Diyanet filloi ta shtrinte veprimtarine përtej kufijve kombëtarë të Turqisë dhe u zgjerua masivisht në vendet me emigrantë turq. Nëse vitet 1980 shënojnë perhapjen e Islamit të shtetit turk në komunitetet e emigrantëve turq në Evropën perëndimore, pas viteve 1990 shihet një orientim gradual drejt komuniteteve myslimane në pjesë të ndryshme të botës.
Një gjë e tillë duket në Ballkan, ku Turqia përpiqet të arrijë dhe të promovojë interesat e saj gjeopolitike me anë të ekonomisë, diplomacisë dhe fesë, nën konceptin e neo-osmanizmit. Ballkani është pikë kryqëzimi i ndikimit historik të - Perandorisë së Shenjtë Romake, trashëgimisë Ortodokse-Sllave dhe i Perandorisë Osmane.

Turkish politics thinks that the US will support the Islamic factor to prevent the growth of the influence of Germany or Russia. After the collapse of communist regimes and the lifting of prohibitions on religious practices, the role of religion was redefined. Islam was used as a differentiating factor against ethnic groups, especially in Kosovo and Macedonia. The vacuum created by this regime change allowed Islamic Non-Governmental Organizations, closely associated with the Arab states of the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, to promote the extreme version of Islam such as Wahhabism. It is important to note that Turkey presented itself more as a moderate Islamic actor than as a secular Islamic state. For the Turkish penetration in the Balkans with Islam as a starting point, the AKP government uses the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA).
The most visible contribution of Diyanet in the Balkans has been its role in the construction and reconstruction of mosques. In the case of symbolic restoration projects, Diyanet mainly cooperates with the Turkish International Coordination Agency and the Turkish Ministry of Culture, which considers Ottoman-era mosques as part of the Turkish-Islamic heritage. The construction of new mosques is also in this process. For that purpose, Diyanet launched the so-called sister cities project, which brings together the office of the local mufti of a city in the Balkans and a mufti's office in Turkey. For example, the Office of the Mufti in Prizren is twinned with the office in Antalya.

The mufti of Antalya began construction of a new mosque in the twinned community; and in Prizren they call it "the mosque of Antalya". There are several dozen twinning projects in the Balkans. Many of these projects create links between the congregation in Turkey and the Balkans. The role of Diyanet is seen as a symbolic leader of the Muslim communities of the Balkans. This is a message that has been welcomed, especially by the small and underfunded Islamic communities of the western Balkans.
Diyanet is trying to shape Balkan Islam in the image of Turkish Islamic doctrine and practice, which is indeed closer to local traditions, using its relations to legitimize itself as the heir of the Ottoman Meşihat. It does this as it is the largest and most centralized administration of Muslim religious affairs in the world.
Since the 1990s, Diyanet has contributed financially to the construction or restoration of mosques and Islamic schools in Eurasia. It has built 27 mosques and restored 6 others. With investments from Diyanet, the Mausoleum of Sultan Murat Hüdavendigar in Pristina and the new mosque in Tirana have been restored.

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