Association of Turkish Cultural Associations in Europe

The Association of Turkish Cultural Associations in Europe ( Turkish Avrupa Türk Kültür Dernekleri Birliği , short form Avrupa Türk Birliği , ATB) is the European organization of the Büyük Birlik Partisi (BBP), an Islamist and right-wing extremist political party in Turkey . The organization based in Germany is designed as an umbrella organization according to its self-portrayal.

history

The beginnings of the ATB go back to 1994. Two years after Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and several like-minded people left the MHP in Turkey and founded the BBP, the subsidiary organization in Europe also split . In 1994 the umbrella organization Avrupa Nizam-ı Alem Federasyonu (“Federation of the World Order in Europe”, ANF) was founded in Germany. In 2002 the name was changed to the current name.

The ATB is Islamist and nationalist . In a statement from August 25, 2006, however, he and a number of other Muslim associations expressly distanced themselves from “terror and violence” in the name of Islam . In the publications of the offices for the protection of the constitution and in publications, the organization is treated under its previous name.

On June 4, 2007, the chairman of the Mulhouse (Alsace) branch, Osman Gürkan, was shot dead in the street.

Organization and activities

The association is based in Ludwigshafen am Rhein . The current chairman is Erol Yazıcıoğlu. The ATB homepage currently lists member clubs in Duisburg , Eislingen , Hamburg , Cologne , Stuttgart , Berlin and Gelsenkirchen in Germany. The association has a total of 20 member clubs in Germany. There are ten other member associations in Belgium, Austria, Denmark, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The ATB offers services such as the repatriation of the deceased, organizes the annual Hajj and operates its own website.

Honourings and prices

The association awards a number of prizes every year: the Necip Fazıl Kısakürek Prize, as well as prizes for the fields of art, sport, justice and entrepreneurship, and prizes for special merits. At the end of 2005, the geographer Franz Schaffer was the first German to receive the prize for special merits.

Self-image

The ATB sees itself as a service provider for the Turks in Europe. With respect and respect for the legal system of the respective host country, the association would like to contribute to maintaining the traditional way of life and beliefs of the Turks. The ATB describes its identity in a self-portrayal as national and Islamic. He strives for “holy values” such as the flag, fatherland and religion to be adopted by all social strata of society.

ideology

The following shows the organization's stance on selected subject areas.

Understanding of Islam and Nationalism

The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Hesse , in addition to the Federation of Turkish-Democratic Idealist Associations in Germany (ADÜTDF) and the Union of Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations in Europe (ATIB), also attributes the ATB to the Turkish nationalism of the gray wolves , in whose associations ideology the gray wolves is cared for and conveyed.

The two essential characteristics of the ideology of the ATB are a traditional and rigid understanding of Islam and Turkish nationalism. Islam is seen as the main component of the national self-image. Ursula Spuler-Stegemann describes the organization as strictly religious. Hakkı Öznur, deputy chairman of the parent party BBP, states on the ATB website:

"Our way is the way of God, our way is the way of the Koran, our way is the way of the [national] ideal."

The Koran is not understood as a mere book of revelation, but is elevated to the rank of a constitution. The history of mankind is understood as a battle between good and evil, as a battle between the true ( Hak ) and the nothing ( Batıl ), between God ( Allah ) and the devil ( Şeytan ) or as a battle between the "nation of Islam" ( Millet -i İslamiye ) and the "Nation of Disbelief" ( Millet-i Küfriye )

The ATB website also contained an “Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence” ( İslam Fıkıh Ansiklopedisi ) Some examples:

"The penalty for adultery is stoning for married men and women, and 100 strokes of the stick for unmarried women."

"If he insists on turning away [from Islam] and not repenting, he will be sentenced to death."

In line with the Muslim self-image, racism of any kind is rejected. The ATB sees the Turks as a great nation, which in turn is part of the Islamic umma .

Secularism and Western Order

The ATB rejects secularism as it is practiced in Turkey. According to his view, secularism is not to be equated with irreligion ( dinsizlik ), but means state neutrality in religious matters. The ATB rejects the Western-European order. According to the organization, this is based on violence:

“What Europeans mean by order is violence. Their right and law are based on violence. By violence the West means cruelty. "

ATB officials urge members and especially young people to observe the laws and possible religious sensitivities of the respective host country. Democracy and the primacy of the law are also advocated in the articles on the homepage. According to the ATB, law and order can be reconciled with Islamic law.

Enemy images

Acting as enemy images of the ATB:

America ("the great Satan") and Europe ("the crusader west")
Satanists ( şeytaniler ) who dominated the media and are also responsible for the US invading Iraq.
Israel, the end of which is longed for.
Freemasons
Zionists and Dönme , who are often the target of anti-Semites in Turkey

Attitude to the Kurds

The Kurds are denied any cultural right to exist. According to the ATB, the term "Kurd" does not include a race or a nation. The word "Kurd" rather means "pile of snow" or "avalanche". Accordingly, there is no Kurdish language. The Kurds are the result of a mixture of Turkish tribes and thus Turks.

Attitude to Chechnya

The ATB has a special bond with the Chechen people, who are also Muslim. On the occasion of the death of the former underground fighter and rebel leader Basayev , the association's deputy chairman, Zafer Guler, praised him as a great hero and declared that the Chechen struggle was theirs too. The Chechens continued the tradition of struggle with their immaculately pure belief that there is no god but God. He spoke with disgust of Russia as “reactionary, fascist, communist, terrorist and imperialist centers”.

literature

General

Andreas Goldberg, Dirk Halm and Faruk Şen: The German Turks. Munster 2004
Ina Wunn: Muslim groups in Germany. Stuttgart 2007
Ursula Spuler-Stegemann: Muslims in Germany. Freiburg 2002
Kemal Bozay: "... I am proud to be Turkish!", Ethnicization of social conflicts in the context of globalization. Schwalbach 2005 ( Review )
Thomas Lemmen: Islamic clubs and associations in Germany. Bonn 2000

Literature on Turkish (idealists) cultural associations and nationalism

Fikret Aslan, Kemal Bozay: Gray wolves are howling again. Turkish fascists and their networking in the FRG. Muenster. 2000 ISBN 3-89771-004-8
Kemal Bozay, Emre Aslan: Self-ethnicization as a barrier to social participation. The main culture of the gray wolves (Bozkurt). ( PDF ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
Katy Schröder: Turkey in the shadow of nationalism. ISBN 3-8311-4266-1

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ On the superstructure and the idealist associations : Kemal Bozay, Emre Aslan: Self-ethnicization as a barrier to social participation. The main culture of the gray wolves (Bozkurt). ( PDF ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))

↑ ^a ^b Compare the list on the homepage ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2

↑ Kemal Bozay, “… I am proud to be Turkish!”, Ethnicization of Social Conflicts in the Sign of Globalization, Wochenschau Verlag, 2005, p. 198

↑ Document accessible on the homepage of the University of Kassel, AG Friedensforschung , accessed on July 28, 2007.

↑ Compare the publication of the NRW Office for the Protection of the Constitution ( PDF ( Memento of November 30, 2004 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Goldberg 2004, p. 112f., Wunn 2007, p. 68 and Spuler-Stegemann 2002, p. 118f.

↑ Kemal Bozay, “… I'm proud to be Turkish!”, Ethnicization of Social Conflicts in the Sign of Globalization, Wochenschau Verlag, 2005, pp. 198–203

^ Thomas Lemmen: Islamic clubs and associations in Germany. Bonn 2000, p. 58

↑ Nizami Alem Başkanını Fransa'da Vurdular haberi . haberler.com. July 4, 2007. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009.

^ Andreas Goldberg, Dirk Halm & Faruk Şen: The German Turks. Münster 2004, p. 112

^ ^A ^b Andreas Goldberg, Dirk Halm & Faruk Şen: The German Turks. Münster 2004, p. 113

↑ Pictures from the 2006 awards ceremony in Duisburg, at which the leader of the mother party and member of the Turkish parliament Muhsin | Yazıcıoğlu was present: 2006 award ceremony in Duisburg ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Report from the press service of the University of Augsburg ( memento of the original from June 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ See self-presentation on the organization website ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007. @1@ 2

↑ The "Gray Wolves": Nationalism and right-wing extremism among Turkish migrants in Germany ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Hesse , accessed on June 19, 2016.

↑ See article on the organization website ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007.

↑ Ursula Spuler-Stegemann: Muslims in Germany. Freiburg 2002, p. 119

↑ See article on the organization website ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007.

↑ ^a ^b See article on the organization website ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007.

↑ See article on the organization website ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007.

↑ ^a ^b See article on the organization website ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007.

↑ Encyclopedia ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ See article on the organization website ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007.

↑ See article on the organization website ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 30, 2007.

↑ See article on the organization website ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 27, 2007.

[1] On the superstructure and the idealist associations : Kemal Bozay, Emre Aslan: Self-ethnicization as a barrier to social participation. The main culture of the gray wolves (Bozkurt). ( PDF ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))