Turkey: Erdogan's AKP party starts election campaign in German mosques

Created: 09/27/2022, 07:51

By: Erkan Pehlivan

The Merkez Mosque.

© Roland Weihrauch/dpa

Several AKP MPs swear the Turks abroad in Germany to the 2023 elections.

The Ditib and IGMG (Milli Görüş) mosques are primarily used for this purpose.

Frankfurt – In several German mosques there were events with MPs from the Turkish governing party AKP last weekend.

The visits took place primarily in mosque communities of Ditib and IGMG (“Milli Görüş”).

The deputies also visited the offices of the AKP lobby organization "UID" and the AKP-affiliated business association "MÜSIAD".

Turkey election campaign: "We are Muslim Turks"

In the Ditib community in Hemmingen, MP Tuba Varol Caliskan met with mosque officials, the politician said on Twitter.

"Our most important characteristic is that we are Muslim Turks," she writes.

The day before, Varol was visiting the Ditib Mosque in Heilbronn.

The MP also posted several pictures of herself and her meetings with UID and MÜSIAD officials last weekend.

Turkey election campaign: AKP and MHP visit Sehitlik Mosque

In addition to AKP MP Erol Kavuncu, MP Ibrahim Yurdunuseven - a member of the right-wing extremist MHP - visited the "Sehitlik Mosque" belonging to Ditib last Friday.

Yurdunuseven also shared pictures of his joint visit with the AKP representative for Germany, Meryem Göka, to the UID in Berlin on Twitter.

Also present at the meeting was the Chairman of Almanya Türk Federasyon (ATF), Ibrahim Yigit.

The organization is attributed to the right-wing extremist “Grey Wolves”.

Turkey election campaign: AKP officials also visit Milli Görüş

The German representative of the AKP, Meryem Göka, met with leaders of the mosque association IGMG (Milli Görüş) in Berlin.

The chairperson of the Berlin UID women's association Hümeyra Ciftci and the deputy chairperson for AKP external relations Tugba Isik Ercan also took part in the meeting.

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The AKP MP Ismail Tamer had immediately posted his weekend visit plan to the AKP-affiliated German mosques and organizations on Twitter.

In Krefeld, Tamer immediately visited the IGMG Mosque and, among other things, two offices of the UID after his visit to the Ditib Mosque.

Turkey election campaign: AKP MPs also visit UID

The AKP MP Betül Sayan visited the Ditib mosques in Maulbronn and Rastatt as well as UID offices during her visit to Germany last weekend.

Kaya also visited the MÜSIAD business association, which is close to the AKP.

"It is an honor for us that our business people in Europe are becoming more influential and stronger," Sayan wrote on Twitter.

Similar visits to mosques have also taken place in France.

Turkey:-Election campaign: Ditib is not politically independent

Experts are angry about such propaganda events.

"The fact that the AKP lobby organization UID is already organizing election campaign tours for AKP politicians in Germany and has free access to the mosque communities of the DITIB, IGMG and ATIB shows us what we can expect in the hot phase of the election campaign in a few months," says Eren Güvercin , founding member of the Alhambra Society, in conversation with FR.de from IPPEN.MEDIA – and demands a clear stance from politicians and Muslims.

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"If this weekend the AKP deputy and close Erdogan confidant like Betül Sayan Kaya in a DITIB community in Wiesloch openly gets the community in the mood for the fateful election next year with the sentence 'We are taking safe steps towards 2023', then Politicians and we Muslims must take a clear stance when a DITIB official tries to lull us back to sleep with the usual phrases that DITIB is politically independent," says Güvercin.

Turkey election campaign: Ditib not a normal religious community

The chairman of the "Kurdish Community Germany" (KGD), Ali Ertan Toprak, is also outraged.

Opposition parties such as the CHP and HDP would not have the opportunity to hold campaign events of this kind in German mosques in the run-up to next year's elections.

"So much for the independence and neutrality of DITIB as a 'religious community' in Germany," says Toprak.

The KGD chairman assumes that these propaganda events by the AKP government will increase sharply in German Ditib mosques in the coming months and is therefore demanding consequences.

“German politicians must no longer treat Ditib as a normal religious community.

All political cooperation and financial support must be ended as long as Ditib is controlled from Turkey,” Toprak told FR.de from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Turkey election campaign: Erdogan calls for support from Turks abroad

These increasing visits by AKP MPs will obviously increase in the future.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged his MPs and Turks abroad to the upcoming elections.

In a letter to the Turks abroad, Erdogan demands approval. "I am absolutely sure that you will continue to give every support for our country," it says.

"God willing, we will build a big and strong Turkey together with you," Erdogan said.

Ditib did not want to answer questions about the background of the AKP visits.

Turkey election campaign: 2023 every vote "worth its weight in gold"

The Turkish constitutional lawyer Dr.

Mustafa Yasar Demircioglu assumes that visits by AKP MPs will increase because of the upcoming elections.

“Every vote will be worth its weight in gold in the 2023 election.

With the visit of the AKP MPs, the AKP has also heralded the election campaign in Germany,” Demircioglu told FR.de.

Demircioglu assumes that 10 AKP MPs visited Germany for similar events in September alone.

Turkey election: Erdogan cannot afford to lose the election

In several polls, things are looking bad for Erdogan and his AKP.

The Turkish head of state could lose the elections.

However, he cannot afford that.

Exiled journalists like Cevheri Güven and Erk Acerer have repeatedly uncovered the connection between Erdogan and his government to organized crime.

While Acerer was being punched in front of his house, the pro-government newspaper "Sabah" from Güven's place of residence published a photo of the house.

In the event of a defeat, Erdogan can expect trials for corruption, human rights violations and war crimes in northern Syria, among other places.

(Erkan Pehlivan)