Foreign Policy: Erdoğan’s International Network of Muslim Cleric Spies

A diplomatic incident involving Germany and the Netherlands on one side and Turkey on the other revealed deep fault lines between Turkish immigrants and the nations where they reside. Members of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, wanted to campaign in the two countries for a constitutional referendum transforming Turkey’s parliamentary system into a presidential system. Opponents raise concerns about the potential for abuse and authoritarian tendencies. In Germany, where there are about 3 million Turkish immigrants, “Erdogan’s efforts also include more subtle tactics” that have been in play for years, asserts Paul Hockenos for Foreign Policy. These include funding Turkish-language media that broadcast propaganda and imams for secret intelligence purposes. The president’s end goal, Hockenos writes, is to reinforce an overlap between conservative religious beliefs and conservative political ones for diaspora Turks. Indeed, the failed coup of July 2016 swiftly ended any possible “religious glasnost” led by young German-born clerics. – YaleGlobal