Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs

Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs

Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion e.V.
Abbreviation	DİTİB
Formation	1984
Type	Religious organization
Headquarters	Ehrenfeld, Cologne, Germany

The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB; German: Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion e.V.; Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Türk-İslam Birliği) is one of the largest Islamic organisations in Germany. Founded in 1984 as a branch of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Ankara, it is an "arm" of the Turkish state.^[1] The headquarters are in Cologne-Ehrenfeld.

As of 2016, the DİTİB funds 900 mosques in Germany.^[1]

The imams and the religious teachers, officially classified as civil servants of the Turkish state, are trained in Ankara and sent to Germany from Turkey.^[2] DİTİB claims it is independent of the Government of Turkey.^[2] Because the state back then^[when?] was almost bankrupt, the officials had to be paid with money from the Muslim World League, which provoked protest from secularists. The fixation on Turkey and the Turkish language proved to be a handicap, because other Islamic organisations used German language in public. The usage of German was seen by many to be more dialogue-friendly.

Homepages of local DİTİB chapters have featured anti-Christian, antisemitic and anti-Western hate speech.^[3]