Philip Lewis

Our hosts in Turkey were members of the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, an organisation belonging to Mr Fethullah Gulen’s movement. A movement described in a recent article by Professor Mandaville as “[including] elements of Sufi spirituality fused with socio-economic liberalism in a highly successful transnational educational project. Dozens of Gulen-sponsored schools, emphasizing a modernist curriculum against a background of ‘non-invasive’ Islamic morality, now operate thoughout much of the Balkans and Central Asia” [ISIM June 2003, What does progressive Islam look like?] Our short visit to Turkey included visits to a private university, the Ministry of Religious Affairs – diyanet – mazlumder, an Islamic human rights NGO, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, devotees of an influential local Sufi, Said Nursi [d 1960], the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as politicians in the ruling party.

Our conversations in Istanbul were framed by the three short reports which had emerged from the Geneva conference on collaborative work in education; fostering co-citizenship and upholding human rights; striving together for justice and overcoming violence. In reality, the entire consultation revisited such themes in a variety of ways. All I will do here is identify some of the insights I personally garnered from this process.

Clearly admission to the EU was keenly sought by everyone we met. Mazlumder considered that entry would strengthen the human rights activities in the country, not least in the area of religious freedom. Turks long committed to inter-religious dialogue also remarked that possible entry into the EU had generated increased interest in this field, notably from diyanet. Religious minorities also welcomed possible entry into the EU as enhancing their profile, not least as tried and tested interlocutors with western Christians, a role they had enjoyed in the times of the Ottomans. Western Europe had an aging population and labour shortage, Turkey had a vigorous growing population. One of the Arab members of our group wryly commented that entry into the EU had almost assumed a redemptive significance for Turks, religious and secular alike!

Turkey is a surprising place. A state built on French laic lines, which attempted to exclude Islam from public space – hence the prohibition today on women wearing veils in state schools and offices. Yet the government in power embodies a conservative ethos, is often spoken of as Islamist, and was characterised by a Turkish academic we met as an Islamic equivalent to European Christian Democracy. Eighty years after Ataturk was supposed to have dismantled the Sufi orders they are clearly alive and well with many leading politicians belonging to them! Again Arab Muslims on the group were startled by this: Sufism in the Arab world is usually dismissed as apolitical and quietist by Islamists!

On a personal level we were all hugely impressed by the friendship and hospitality we received. Staying in the shadow of Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, we were in no doubt that we had entered a subtle, sophisticated culture confident that it had the resources to negotiate the challenges of the contemporary world. One person in particular embodied this confidence: a young Turkish Muslim woman studying inter-religious relations… in Rome. Articulate, alert, amusing, self-critical, discreetly and elegantly veiled, she embodied in herself the huge significance Turkey has for Christian-Muslim relations, not just in Europe but world-wide.

If Turkey can successfully marry its “secular” and Islamic heritage; if its democratically elected government can continue to embody an Islamic ethos without risking the ire of the army, the self-appointed guardians of the country’s secularism; if it can strengthen its European sensibility while remaining a bridge to Asia and the wider Muslim world; if it can affirm its religious diversity and improve its human rights record, it will provide a dramatic example that Islam can once again be a vibrant and valued part of Europe.

Reflecting on this rich experience on my return to my home in Bradford in the North of England – home also to 85,000 Muslims of South Asian origin - I can now reflect on the wisdom of one local mosque which has just appointed an American Muslim to be their imam who has just completed ten years study of Islamic sciences at the feet of his Sufi Shaikh…in Istanbul! I look forward to a deepening friendship with him, as he in turn encourages a somewhat inward looking Muslim community to engage with greater confidence Christians in the wider community.

Dr Philip Lewis is Inter-faith Adviser to the Anglican Bishop of Bradford and lectures in the Department of Peace Studies.

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