Thread by @theHELC

There was uproar in #France when the city of #Strasbourg agreed to pay €2.5m towards the construction of a new #mosque by a radical #Turkish #Islamist organization in 2021. But who is #MilliGorus and what are their aims? A thread by #theHELC 1/10

Millî Görüş ("National Vision") is a religious-political movement that found expression in a series of #Islamist parties culminating in #Erdogan’s AKP. It argues that Turkey can develop as a rival to the West, by protecting its core values and trusting in God 2/10

The beginning of the movement dates to a manifesto published in 1969 by Necmettin #Erbakan, the Islamist politician who later became prime minister. Erbakan called for #PanIslamism and warned against the ‘#Zionist and Catholic project’ of the European Common market 3/10

The underlying message was a call for #PoliticalIslam in Turkey and the world. Erbakan tried to move #Turkey in this direction in his brief prime-ministership in 1996 but was deposed by one of the many army coups that characterize Turkey’s political life 4/10

#Erdogan was a disciple of Erbakan and his #AKP party is a direct continuation of Erbakan’s #Islamists. In 2018, Erdogan pushed for the sentencing by a Turkish court of 21 high-level military officials to life in prison for their roles in the 1997 #coup against Erbakan 5/10

#MilliGorus in the meantime continued to develop amongst the Turkish diaspora in Europe and beyond, described as the largest #Islamic organization operating in the West. It claimed to have "87,000 members across Europe, including 50,000 in Germany," as of 2005 6/10

Erdogan’s party and government heavily subsidized #MilliGorus, turning it into an instrument of the Turkish Government and of #Diyanet, the administrative body of Islam in Turkey, who control the organization’s public statements and appearances 7/10

One of the main ways #MilliGorus is using to proselytize and influence #Muslim immigrants in foreign countries is by the construction of #mosques. Strasbourg’s €25m mega project is a striking example, however others have appeared as far afield as #Japan 8/10

#Germany is home to more than 300 #MilliGorus mosques and prayer rooms, used to propagate a radical traditionalist version of #Islam, with political and Turkish supremacy aims. The organization has often been targeted by the authorities for fraud and #criminal offenses 9/10

Branches of #MilliGorus are highly active in #France, #Belgium, the #UK and other countries. Given the radical history and practices of the movement, it can only be seen as a Trojan horse for Political Islam in Europe that needs to be closely monitored and opposed 10/10

For a more in depth examination of #MilliGorus's history in Turkey see @jamesinturkey’s excellent video here