The Turkish government’s propaganda is strongly promoted abroad. In Germany many organizations influence the Turkish communities in favor of Erdogan.
After Turkish President Erdogan’s victory, Germany’s Minister of Agriculture, Cem Ezdemir, demanded that the German government change its policy towards Turkey. “We saw in our dealings with Putin what happens when you choose to beautify a situation,” the Turkish-born Greens politician said, warning of a rise in Turkish nationalism and fundamentalism in Germany.

The minister also criticized the Turks in Germany who celebrated the victory of Erdogan, someone who is “turning the country into a kind of open prison, while at the same time they are enjoying the benefits of liberal democracy here.”

How many support Erdogan?

On the other hand, Gekai Sofuoglu, president of the Turkish Community in Germany, warned against a general attack on voters. In an interview with DW, he said that a total of about three million Turks live in Germany. Of these, around 500,000 voted for Erdogan. In relation to the total number of Turks in Germany, this is only about 17%.
However, Kemal Bozai, a professor at the Center for Research and Prevention of Radicalization at the International University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, disagrees with this reading of the statistics, as the fact remains that over 65% of eligible voters who participated in the election voted for Erdogan . Bozai adds that part of the electorate also voted for the ultra-nationalist MHP party in the parliamentary elections, an important ally of Erdogan. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, this is the organization from which the right-wing nationalist Gray Wolves emerged.

According to Bozai, it should not be ignored that conservative, nationalist and extreme religious influence among citizens of Turkish origin is increasing. Furthermore, he emphasizes that there are many organizations that strengthen this influence, such as the Union of International Democrats (UID), which is close to the ruling AKP, the Turkish Islamic Association of Religious Institutions (DITIB), the Islamic Millî Görüs Community (IGMG) and the Federation Turkish Democratic Idealist Associations (ADÜTDF), considered a “Grey Wolves group”.

Inhibition of incorporation by order of AKP

The UID is currently the largest organization promoting the interests of the AKP, with 15 regional associations at the national level, to which many local associations belong. As Bozai explains, the problem lies not so much in the fact that such umbrella organizations act as a basis for the AKP’s election campaign, but in promoting far-right, ultra-nationalist and extreme religious positions and anti-democratic attitudes.

According to the Constitution Protection Service, a policy of hindering the integration of the Turkish diaspora is being promoted. An essential part of this policy consists of constantly highlighting alleged or real cases of racism, Islamophobia and hostility towards Turkey in German society and the German state, through many different channels. In contrast to the above, the reputation and great importance of the community living in Germany for the Turkish government is emphasized and the narratives of the Turkish government are promoted.

According to its own data, the UID conducted the election campaign together with the AKP Coordination Center for elections abroad. In the last year, they have jointly formed 750 delegations in 180 regions around the world, mobilizing 15,000 election officials and more than 30,000 volunteers for the campaign. Photographs attest that they made house calls, distributed leaflets and gifts and drove voters to the polling stations. UID representatives also visited the polling stations and on the night of the election watched the helpers counting the votes in Ankara.

The role of religious associations is important

Mosque associations have also been criticized many times for campaigning in favor of the Turkish government. And this time, it is mainly DITIB and IGMG that are receiving criticism. The Muslim umbrella organization DITIB rejects the accusations, saying it does not tolerate campaign events and party advertisements in its communities. On the other hand, he does not comment on the government propaganda of some imams.

Almost all imams appointed to Turkish mosques are dispatched from Ankara, as Turkish civil servants paid by the Diyanet religious authority, which is controlled by Erdogan. German minister Cem Ezdemir even fears that the next imams sent to Germany could be even more nationalist and fundamentalist, as Erdogan has won elections and expanded his alliance with nationalist, Islamist and anti-Semitic allies.

Bozai shares this concern. “Especially here, we need a policy of active participation that gathers young people of Turkish origin and integrates them into social structures,” he says. It is important that far-right, Islamist and anti-Semitic Turkish organizations are removed from democratic processes. However, this would only be possible if the federal government followed an active policy of identification and integration of young people early on, Bozai concludes.