Search

This article investigates how a pioneering group of feminist theologians and activists—who had offered women-centred interpretations of sacred texts, criticized misogynous practices for being at odds with the original spirit of Islam and launched projects to combat violence against women—came to be included in the bureaucracy of Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, Diyanet. Drawing on interviews with women who were personally involved and an analysis of the Diyanet's reports and publications (2003–2016) regarding women, the work shows that bureaucratization per se is not necessarily synonymous with the silencing of collective claims or innovative stances. It outlines i) that the first phase of the transition from the pious women's activism to them occupying positions in the bureaucracy was shaped by cooperation between state institutions and civil society organizations that included feminist activists and ii) how, since 2013, the AKP's drift towards authoritarianism, the change in power structures within the Diyanet and the redefinition of the relationship between the state and non-governmental civil society organizations have quashed and marginalized progressive and feminist approaches that had initially been included in the bureaucracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on Foucault's concept of pastoral power, the article scrutinizes the role of religious officers who are employed by Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and serve Turkish Muslim communities in Europe. It investigates how state-led diaspora institutions operate at a micro-level and what they reveal about the state's governmentality outside its territory. In order to parse the pastoral actors' empirically visible agency, the work draws on ethnographic observations of the religious officers' activities in the Diyanet's mosques in Austria. It outlines (i) how Diyanet officers' pastoral practices go beyond the mosques and manifest in a wide range of socio-cultural religious services aimed at reaching diaspora communities, (ii) the relation between Diyanet officers' activities and the Turkish state's extraterritorial practices and discourse aimed to promoting obedience to the authorities and love for the motherland, and (iii) how the interaction between Diyanet officers and the flock shape people's perception of themselves as a community while remapping the boundaries of a Turkish and Muslim belonging in essentialist terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the inclusion of women among the religious officers of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) who are serving abroad, the "ideal Turkish family" has become the main program underlying projects and activities oriented towards women, families, and young people. This international mission has led to an expansion of religious services and moral support in order to reinforce a religion–nation–family nexus within the diaspora. This article examines how the Diyanet officers reproduce the Islam–nation–family intersection as a discourse to be propagated to the diaspora, and whether this narrative reinforces Turkey's attempts to create loyalty to Turkey within the diaspora. Based on ethnographic observations, an analysis of Diyanet official publications, and interviews with Diyanet officers at mosques in Vienna and Stockholm, this article shows the extent to which the Diyanet's international mission is a catalyst for the dissemination of nationalist, moral, and religious values within the diaspora, how Diyanet officers are actively involved in fostering a religious-national discourse within diaspora communities and how they specifically reinforce the connection between Islam, the Turkish nation, and the traditional Turkish family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on investigating Turkey's state diaspora policies and the so-called new wave of migration from Turkey. Topics include post-2010s emigration from Turkey as a result of rapid democratic retrenchment and the criminalization of dissent; and highly educated members of the middle classes, intellectuals, families with high expendable income, and members of LGBTQ communities.

For centuries, Rome and Istanbul have been representing and epitomizing two empires and two entities with both significant spiritual and temporal power: the Papacy and the Caliphate. During the 19th and the 20th centuries, these institutions underwent significant changes in a context of state secularization: in the case of the Papacy, there was a loss of temporal power and its "reduction" to a mainly moral authority; the Caliphate, on the other hand, was abolished after World War I, succeeded by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), a bureaucratic body under state control, founded in the era of Kemalist secularism. Despite these changes, today both institutions still play a significant role in the public life and public policies of the Italian and the Turkish republics. While the Vatican is able to influence the Italian public sphere and public discourse through both its influence on common people and its lobbying activities in relation to political decision-makers, in Turkey the Diyanet has become the main tool in the reshaping of Turkish society (both by the Kemalists and, later, by Erdoğan's AKP). This paper will analyze their influence on the two countries' public policies in relation to religious pluralism and to family-related issues, to show how different ideas of secularism, institutional arrangements, and historical paths have led to a very different role of the two institutions in the Italian and Turkish political systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite scholars' tremendous interest in the dynamics of Turkish laicism, little to no attention has been paid to the actors and the practices through which Islamic morality is propagated among society every day. This article investigates the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet)'s policy that has been increasing the number of women working as preachers since 2003. To what extent and how does the employment of the Diyanet's women preachers affect the way in which religion and Islamic public morality grow and are spread in Turkey today? What specifically is women's contribution in this respect? Drawing on an ethnographic observation of the Diyanet's women preachers' activities in Istanbul mosques, the article outlines how they contribute to reshaping Turkish laicism while diffusing Islamic morality in the public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the religious activities of the female preachers (vaizeler) employed by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). It investigates the extent to which, and how, the activities carried out by the Diyanet’s vaizeler are in compliance with a state attempt to standardise and control female religious engagement. As religious officers, the vaizeler both spread and embody an organised religion. However, far from any dichotomous perspective, to assert their religious authority the Diyanet’s preachers navigate daily between compliance with the institution’s dogmas and negotiation with a plurality of interpretations labelled as unofficial, popular and traditional. To fully assess this issue, this article refers to ethnographic observations of everyday vaizeler’s preaching activities in Istanbul’s mosques. Conducted between 2013 and 2014, these observations are crucial for contextualising the evolution of the Turkish state monopoly over religious affairs, particularly in the aftermath of the July 2016 attempted coup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2003 the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has increased the number of female preachers (vaizeler). These state appointed professional female preachers are engaged in illuminating women and providing them with an appropriate religious education. Within the frame of Turkish state’s regulation of religious affairs, this phenomenon is important since it calls into question both the state’s monopoly over religious officers and women’s access to the religious public realm. The article casts light on these issues by addressing the following questions: what does theDiyanet’sincrease in female preachers reveal about the intertwined relationship between women, religion and the state in contemporary Turkey? Or, in other words, what does it reveal about the transformation of Turkey’s assertive secularism? Following year-long ethnographic observations of thevaizeler’sdaily activities in three Istanbul districts (Bahçelievler, Üsküdar and Beşiktaş), this paper analyses the evolution of female religious engagement in Turkey. The concluding remarks highlight the trend of professionalisation and standardisation in the traditional activity of female preaching. Thevaizeler’ssessions are also extremely telling of a broader and complex redefinition of Turkish secularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines religious assistance provided by female preachers (vaizeler) enrolled in a Turkish state institution, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Employed all over the country and abroad, these preachers perform many activities that transcend the sacred places of mosques. This study investigateshow concretely the Turkish state has promoted increased religious assistance for women and families.Resulting from one year of ethnographic observations of vaizelers’ daily activities in Istanbul, this work enriches the debate concerning religion and the state in Turkey with an unconventional perspective: female moral support. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]