Turkey will no longer send imma to German mosques

Germany will stop accepting the imams sent by Turkey and will instead train Muslim clergymen on local soil in an effort to promote integration.

Germany and Turkey agreed on Thursday to gradually end the deployment of elected imams from the Turkish state to Germany and instead have trained mothers in Germany to serve the country's large community of Turkish immigrants.

German authorities have been seeking for many years to increase the number of educated domestic imams to reduce the influence of foreign countries in its Muslim communities.

Within the framework of the German-Turkish training joint initiative, Turkey's appointed imam number will gradually be reduced by next year.

German Interior Minister Nancy Fyser called the agreement “an important milestone for the integration and participation of Muslim communities in Germany”.

“We need preachers who speak our language, know our country and defend our values”, it has declared.

Some 5.5 million of Germany's 83.2 million inhabitants are Muslims, and nearly 3 million people in the country are Turks or have Turkish roots, reports the report. AP.

For many decades, the Turkish government has exerted influence on the large immigrant community through Muslim religious leaders who sent to work in Germany.

Relations between Germany's majority Christian population and the Muslim minority have traditionally been complicated. Extremist attacks carried out on behalf of the Islamic State group resulted in raids and bans by Muslim associations considered radical.

Racism, hatred, and sometimes violence against Muslims in Germany are widespread and often part of their daily experience, according to a recent report.

With about 900 mosque communities, DITIB is the largest Islamic association in Germany.

The agreement with Turkey requires DITIB to be responsible for training 100 imams in Germany annually, but the goal is for men to complete their religious education with classes at the Islamic College in Germany.

Germany's Islamic College, or Islamkog Deutschland, is located in Osnabrwick in northern Germany. It was founded by Muslim community associations, theologians and academics in 2019 to provide practical and theological training for German - speaking and imam religious staff to local communities.

The German government also wants to promote courses for future imams, which include German language learning and religious education, as well as classes about history, political issues and German values, German news agency dpa reported.

Turkish immigrants began coming to a considerable number more than 60 years ago, when Western Germany recruited guest subx0> “employee from Turkey and elsewhere to help the country progress economically.

Young people were mainly employed in coal mines, steel production, and the automobile industry. Many who first came as temporary workers decided to stay and bring their families, giving Berlin and other cities in western and southwest Germany large immigrant communities.