The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs is all-powerful. It has recently gained a new power - to ban translations of the Quran that it considers incompatible with Islam. Critics speak of "censorship" of the Quran.
The Directorate of Religious Affairs (Dianat) is among the most influential government bodies in Turkey. It operates in more than 100 countries around the world, and employs over 140,000 people. It was founded in 1924, and since 2018 is under the direct control of the Islamic-conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Its annual budget of around three billion euros exceeds that of some ministries - even that of the Ministry of Interior.
Diananet manages 90,000 mosques across the country, organizes annual pilgrimages for pilgrims, coordinates the Eid al-Adha celebrations and organizes Koran courses and various cultural events. It also trains imams for the country and abroad. Its foundation is active in 150 countries and reaches millions of people through educational programs and scholarships - from the Far East to Latin America.
Diananet gains new powers
In recent years, the powers of the Diyanet have been constantly expanding. Now the religious body has also been given the right to interpret and translate the Koran. A recently passed law empowers it to review translations of the Quran, and if they "do not conform to the essential characteristics of Islam", they can be censored and banned.
If the "problematic translations" have already been published, they can be confiscated and destroyed. This also applies to digitalized content on the Internet. Until now, President Erdogan had granted the Diyanet similar powers by decree, but this was challenged by the Constitutional Court. With the new law, this power is now legally regulated and therefore no longer contradicts the Constitution.
Critics: "Bankruptcy of the Turkish state"
Theologians critical of the government speak of censorship and "state-dictated Islam" that threatens religious freedoms.
For the famous Turkish theologian Prof. Sönmez Kutlu said the move was an admission that the state had declared bankruptcy. According to him, the state, which has over 100,000 Diyanet employees and more than 100 theological faculties, should be able to protect the Quran from problematic translations not through bans but through intellectual and scientific methods.
He also warned that publications containing translated verses from the Quran that are alleged to "contradict the basic characteristics of Islam" could also become the subject of investigations or trials.
Theologian İhsan Eliaçık sees the new Diyanet authority as a fundamental violation of Islam. "In Islam, no institution is allowed to stand between people and Allah. However, the Diyanet's review of the Quran for "authenticity" does exactly that," he asserts. His translation of the Quran was deemed problematic by the Diyanet, which is why it was banned. However, Eliaçik took the matter to the Constitutional Court and won the case. With the new legal provisions, such a thing will no longer be possible. In recent years, theologians critical of the government such as Eliaçik and Kutlu have repeatedly become the target of discrediting campaigns by pro-government Islamic brotherhoods and Islamist orders.
The Growing Influence of Religious Orders in Turkey
Yomer Özsoy, a professor of theology at the "Goethe" University in Frankfurt am Main, suspects that the new law is based on the growing influence of these communities on the government. "These circles have been openly opposing academic, critical and pluralistic theology in Islamic theological faculties in Turkey for about a decade," he says. Özsoy has also witnessed how "systematic campaigns have been carried out against high-ranking theologians for some time".
The theology professor fears that the new law could be widely used for "repressive and politically motivated interpretation". He has information from his colleagues that "Dianat is preparing a ban on a total of 12 translations, including those by Mustafa Öztürk and Edip Yüksel".
How important are Quran translations?
The Quran, the holy book of Muslims, is written in Arabic. Translations are essential for making the texts accessible to millions of people. But they also contain interpretations, especially in cases of ambiguous words and passages. That is why the topic is very sensitive.
In recent years, the importance of Quran translations in non-Arabic speaking countries, such as Turkey, has increased. In the past, the Quran was dealt with by theologians, but now things are very different, explains theology professor Özsoy: "Today, lay believers read the Quran directly and interpret it independently". According to him, this is due to individualization, critical thinking and the emergence of different movements and currents in Islam.
In recent decades, the number of Turkish translations of the Quran has increased, but among the translators there are also people without the necessary professional qualifications. This problem has been widely discussed among experts.
Bad news for Erdogan: more and more non-believers in Turkey
Religion is taking an increasingly central place in the social debate in Turkey. Young people in particular are reading the holy scriptures, discussing Islam and questioning many theories, which is causing concern for the government. For some time now, President Erdogan has made no secret of his desire to raise a "religious generation".
However, recent surveys by the "Konda" Public Opinion Research Institute show exactly the opposite trend: the share of people who define themselves as believers has decreased from 55% in 2018 to 46% today, while the share of atheists or non-believers has increased from 2% to 8% over the same period.