The Theological Battle Between ISIL and The Turkish State
Hilmi Demir & Selim Koru
04 May 2016
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) recently declared Mehmet Görmez, the head of Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs – the “Diyanet” as it is often referred to – an apostate. The Diyanet is in charge of Turkey’s nation-wide network of mosques, making this an attack on mainstream Sunni Islam in Turkey. The third issue of ISIL’s Turkish-language magazine argued that the Diyanet was Turkey’s tool of “adjusting the religion of Islam to the new religion of secularism.” The article featured photos of Görmez with the Pope and the Bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as photos of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the secularizing leader of modern Turkey, all of which, to ISIL, is akin to shaking hands with the devil. “The mosques of Diyanet are these people’s schools of jahiliya [t
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The Islamic State's Plans for Turkey
Hilmi Demir & Selim Koru
18 January 2016
The video “Turkey and the Fire of Racism” begins with a map of 7th-century Arabia, outlining how Islam came to spread to Central Asia, and thereby to the Turks. It then goes into a narrative of how the Turks have turned their back on Islam in favor of national ties, and the decline they have suffered as a consequence. The 17-minute, high-definition propaganda piece features fancy animations, militants the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) talking into the camera, and idyllic cut scenes, all delivered in crisp Istanbul Turkish, save one Kurdish portion.
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