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I'm Thomas Schmidinger.

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I teach Political Science
at the University of Vienna

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and Intercultural Social Work
at the FH Upper Austria.

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I focus on the Middle East
and the Kurdish issue, migration,

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the relationship
between the state and religion

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and, especially, on political Islam.

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Let's talk about the origins
of the Millî Görüş Islamic community.

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Where and when was it founded?

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The movement came about in the 70s,

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on the one hand,
as a mosque association here in Germany,

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which was founded by Turkish migrants.

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On the other hand,
it was also a political party in Turkey,

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which has changed names
multiple times over the years,

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as it has been banned over and over again.

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It has always had some form of interaction
with the movement here in Europe.

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Necmettin Erbakan was the founding father.

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Necmettin Erbakan founded the party,

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but he's also the idol,
the founding figure of the movement,

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and he's still venerated
in Germany to this day.

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What is Millî Görüş' ideology?

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It's changed over the years.

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Erbakan was definitely
anti-Western, anti-Kurdish,

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quite nationalistic and antisemitic.

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He wasn't really a supporter of democracy.

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However, he didn't wish
to replace the Republic of Turkey

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with a caliphate or anything like that.

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He wanted to islamise Turkey.

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With his party he acted
within the legal framework in Turkey.

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At the same time,
due the demise of the party in Turkey,

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Millî Görüş became more independent
in Germany and Europe after 2001,

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and, thus, developed a certain dynamic
that's somewhat stronger

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than the dynamic found
in other associations, such as DİTİB,

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which is directly linked
to the Turkish government.

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That means that the centre of the movement

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has moved to Germany, to Cologne,
where the Millî Görüş HQ is located.

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Thus, in recent years,

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the demeanour and the ideology
has somewhat changed,

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without them having disassociated
themselves from Erbakan

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and having looked at him critically.

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What is the relationship between
Millî Görüş and the AKP party?

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Essentially, the AKP
is a separate branch.

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Before 2001, the AKP
and the Felicity Party split.

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Erbakan founded
the smaller of the two parties,

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and Millî Görüş remained with Erbakan.

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In recent years,
that has somewhat shifted again,

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because many AKP sympathisers
have been active

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within the Millî Görüş movement

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and the AKP has been somewhat trying
to take over control of the movement.

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The Felicity Party has also founded
its own party organisation

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and that has somewhat turned
the Millî Görüş movement

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into a mosque umbrella organisation.

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But, on the other hand,

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to an extent, it has opened its doors
to AKP activists within the movement.

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It's a very dynamic process

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whose further development
depends on developments in Turkey.

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What ideology and form of Islamism

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does Millî Görüş support?

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I don't like describing it as "Islamism",

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because that term is quite vague.

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The movement derives from political Islam

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and it hasn't quite
dealt with the positions

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cradled by Erbakan, so to speak,
in a self-critical manner.

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It's also a movement
which has recently become

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more of a mosque movement,
a mosque umbrella organisation,

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which is conservative on a national level.

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But that doesn't mean it follows
a party political agenda here in Germany.

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In Germany, they're being monitored
by the intelligence services.

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It's different in every federal state.

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Each intelligence service
makes its own assessment.

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That doesn't mean
Millî Görüş is different in every state,

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but rather
that it is assessed differently.

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I don't see Millî Görüş as being
a terrorist threat in any shape or form.

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And I don't necessarily agree that
organisations which may potentially hold

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non-democratic positions

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should be monitored
by the intelligence services.

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The German intelligence services

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have a wider range of tasks to do
than the Austrian ones.

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I'm in favour of a more
liberal approach in this regard,

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and that only organisations that pose
a real threat should be monitored,

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and I doubt Millî Görüş is one of them.

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How influential is Millî Görüş in Germany?

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It's one of the bigger
umbrella organisations.

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Socio-politically,
it is influential, of course.

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One should take
a critical look at their agenda,

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but, in my eyes,
that's more a matter of political debate

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and not necessarily a task for the police.

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Thank you.
-Thank you.