THE RELIGIOUS LIVES OF EUROPEAN TURKS; The Role of Religious Groups

Year 2017, Volume: 10 Issue: 2, 785 - 796, 17.12.2017

Yakup Çoştu

https://doi.org/10.17218/hititsosbil.348120

Abstract

Referring the
Turks that migrated Europe’s several countries as “temporary workers” in 1960,
it is obvious that neither Turkey nor receiving countries had no policy about
migration with the thought that they would “come back”. Since late 1970s, the
receiving countries’ point of view has changed in the way that Turks wouldn’t
be temporary but permanent. So they developed some strategies and policies such
as social security laws, repentance law for illegal or tourist-worker, family
reunification law, foreigner laws etc. The purpose of these new laws was to
take the immigration wave under control and supporting immigrant integration in
Europe. Turkey as an emigration country, during those days, started to take
some serious steps about preventing its own citizens from assimilation and
helping them to integrate successfully.

During the
migration process, from the early 1960s to the middle of 1980s, there was no
official religious services for Turkish immigrants living in Europe. For 20
years or about, those people had been destined to be on their own in that
period of time. Within that period also religious services had been carried out
mostly with the hand of some religious groups, communities and movements in
Turkey. In this paper, Turkey-connected religious groups and communities’
influence on the European Turkish immigrants’ daily religious life will be
evaluated with a macro-sociological point of view.

Keywords

European Turks, Daily Religious Life, Religious Groups and Movements

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