Description:

Over the last fifty years, Turks have come to form one of the largest diaspora groups in Western Europe. Islam has figured prominently in the policies that the Turkish state has pursued with regard to these citizens abroad in the form of religious services provided by the official institution of state religious governance in Turkey, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı). Along with the 1500 imams it employs in foreign countries today, the Diyanet has actively sought to influence Turkish Islam in Western Europe and has succeeded in becoming a key actor of Islamic religious affairs across the continent. Drawing on recent doctoral research, this talk will explore the interests that underlie these transnational religious policies as well as their impact on the development of Islam in Germany and France.

Benjamin Bruce holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from Sciences Po Paris. He is a research associate at the Center for International Studies (Sciences Po) and researcher at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF), and works on religion, foreign policy, and transnational migration.

Sponsored by the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program