US embassy cable - 05ISTANBUL377

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000377 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KISL, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: MOSQUE-STATE RELATIONS: ISTANBUL DEBATES ROLE OF 
RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE 
 
REF: CONSUL-GENERAL DAVID ARNETT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B&D) 
 
1. (u) Subject: A new report on the relationship among 
religion, state, and society by TESEV, a prominent 
establishment Turkish think tank, has stimulated a lively 
discussion among Istanbul academic and media circles on the 
role and future of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate 
(Diyanet).  TESEV's proposals may give added stimulus to 
discussions here on a question long debated in Anatolia: 
whether Turkey's form of secularism, in which all mosques are 
controlled by the state and religious workers are state 
employees, is appropriate for this aspiring EU candidate. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (u) On February 22, the Turkey Economic and Social Studies 
Foundation (TESEV) held a press conference announcing the 
publication of a new report on religion in Turkey entitled 
"Can There Be a Civil, Transparent, and Democratic Religious 
Affairs Directorate?"  On February 25, TESEV hosted a 
follow-up conference in Istanbul to launch discussion of 
their new report based on extensive research and interviews 
in Turkey and among the Turkish communities in Germany.  The 
President of the Diyanet (Turkey's Religious Affairs 
Directorate), Ali Bardakoglu, two Diyanet Vice Presidents, 
and a former Diyanet President participated in the conference 
along with a broad spectrum of academic experts and 
representatives from selected religious groups. 
 
3. (u) The TESEV report (http://www.tesev.org.tr/ 
projeler rcakir ibozan 2005.php) written by Rusen Cakir and 
Irfan Bozan lays out the general debate on the relationship 
among mosque, state, and society and criticizes the Diyanet 
on a number of issues.  TESEV concludes that, although 
flawed, the solution lies not in abolishing the Diyanet (as 
some advocate), but in strengthening it and making it more 
autonomous.  (Embassy Comment: TESEV has had minimal contacts 
with the debate on Islam and Islamic elements in Turkish 
society.  Cakir and Bozan, for their part, are not well 
regarded among Islamic scholars, experts, and members of 
brotherhoods/lodges.  End Comment.)  Notable findings and 
recommendations of the report include: 
 
- The Diyanet should correct its failure to provide adequate 
services to devout women and women's groups, as well as 
ensure greater professional opportunities for female 
religious workers; 
 
- The Diyanet should recognize Alevis as a distinct religious 
group (note: Alevis are heterodox Muslims who make up a 
significant minority of Turkey's population), incorporate 
Alevi representation in the organization, and launch an 
expanded dialog with all of the various Alevi groups; 
 
- The Diyanet must make its funding, revenue collection, and 
activities (including those of its associated foundations) 
more transparent; 
 
- The Diyanet lacks sufficient personnel to staff over 23,000 
positions; a situation which has left 10,000 mosques without 
Diyanet personnel; 
 
- Legalizing the de facto presence of Turkey's Islamic 
brotherhoods (tarikats) and instituting a system of state 
controls over their operations should be discussed; 
 
- The Diyanet should engage in a continuous dialog with 
Turkey's non-Muslim minorities (i.e., Orthodox Christians and 
Jews) and provide them with any necessary financial and moral 
support; 
 
- Diyanet personnel dispatched to Europe should limit 
themselves to religious work and receive more training, 
especially language. Ultimately, young Turks living in those 
countries should be hired and trained instead.  (Note: The 
Diyanet currently sends about 1200 imams or religious workers 
to service the Turkish communities in Germany, Belgium, the 
Netherlands and other countries). 
 
4. (u) In his remarks at the TESEV conference, Diyanet 
President Ali Bardakoglu attempted to defend the Diyanet 
against the well demonstrated assessment that it represents 
only Turkey's majority Hanefi Sunni Muslims.  Diyanet Vice 
President Mehmet Gormez admitted that the Diyanet itself is 
considering the possibility of autonomy.  At the same time he 
repeatedly took the floor to correct errors in the report, 
and on the way back to Ankara told a close Embassy contact 
that neither the TESEV nor the authors know what they are 
talking about.  Other speakers touched on many of the issues 
raised in the TESEV report and leveled criticism at the 
Diyanet ranging from its failure to provide basic religious 
services to its very existence as inconsistent with 
secularism.  Conference participants seemed to agree that the 
EU reform process would force Turkey to address this issue 
and that simply abolishing the Diyanet is not a practical 
option.  Most of the discussion, therefore, focused on how 
the Diyanet should be reformed. 
 
5. (u) The report, combined with recent recommendations from 
a European Council committee that Turkey eliminate religion 
from its identity cards and drop the compulsory requirement 
to take religion classes in school, has already sparked an 
intellectual and political debate in Istanbul on the subject. 
 Columnists have weighed in with their views (e.g., Yeni 
Safak, Ahmet Tasgetiren, February 25; Zaman, Sahin Alpay, 
March 3). 
 
6. (c) Comment: TESEV's report and conference may stimulate 
more debate among Istanbul academic and media circles, which 
have lagged far behind the rest of the country in questioning 
the Diyanet and its relation to Islamic thought and practice. 
 The future of the Diyanet is central to the question of the 
relationship between Islam, the state, and society.  Although 
near-term consensus is unlikely, TESEV has made an important 
contribution by placing the issue squarely in the public 
domain and stimulating an open debate.  TESEV Chairman Can 
Paker told poloff that he was pleased with the cooperation 
they received from the Diyanet in preparing the report. 
Participation in the conference and comments by senior 
Diyanet officials, moreover, suggest that they themselves are 
preparing for change.  Co-author of the report Irfan Bozan 
told poloff most agree that the current system has failed in 
its basic purpose - to control religion in Turkey.  What 
remains to be seen is what will be done about it.  We will 
continue to track the debate and government statements or 
proposals to assess whether Turkey is moving in the direction 
of securing religious freedom and equal treatment for all 
groups or whether reforms are used to advance the interests 
and influence of some vis-a-vis others. 
ARNETT