Germany and Turkey agree on sending 1,000 imams back to Turkey

The German and Turkish governments have agreed on a road map to gradually send the 1,000 Turkish imams working in Germany for the Turkish religious authority Diyanet back home over the next few years, the German Interior Ministry announced on Thursday, reported dpa.

For years the deployed preachers have been controversial because the preachers, who are usually sent to Germany for four years, follow instructions from Ankara as Turkish civil servants and usually only have incomplete knowledge of the realities of life in German society.

The Diyanet imams mainly work in mosques run by the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion (Ditib).

According to the German government, several dozen of them preach in the congregations of the Union of Turkish-Islamic Cultural Associations in Europe (ATIB) and Milli Görüs - two organizations that are mentioned in the latest annual report from Germany's domestic intelligence agency.

To get a head start on what is being preached in the German mosques before the end of the imams' deployment, Ditib will take on the professional responsibility for the preachers in the course of 2024.

The German government wants to encourage the training additional of imams in Germany. This training, which is open to graduates of Islamic theology degree programmes, should consist of three pillars: German lessons, Islamic religious education and German history, socio-political issues and values.