AVRUPA MILLI GORUS TESKILATI. In the early 19’70S the first branches of the “National Vision” (Milli GORUS) organization were founded by Turkish labor migrants in Europe. These groups had close connections to the National Salvation Party (Milli Selamet Partisi [MSP]). The name “Milli GORUS” stands for a philosophy as well as for the organization and is derived from the programmatic book Milli GORUS” (Ankara,. 1973) of party leader Necmettin Erbakan. In 1976 the various groups joined together in the Turkish Union in Europe, which changed its name in 1982 to the Islamic Union in Europe and in 1985 to the Organization of the National Vision in Europe (Avrupa Milli GORUS Teski-lati [AMGT]). With its headquarters in Cologne, Germany, about twenty-five to thirty centers and 145 mosques in different parts of Germany, 150 to 22o affiliated organizations, about seventy thousand members and the Organization of Islamic Youth in Europe (Avrupa Islamci Genclik Birligi), the AMGT is the largest nongovernmental organization of Muslims in Germany.
The AMGT also runs centers in Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Austria. It cooperates with other Islamist organizations, such as the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, the Afghan Party of God (Hizbullah), the Filipino Moro National Liberation Front, and the Libyan Islamic Call Society. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 and the military takeover in Turkey in 1980, severe ideological and political conflicts erupted within the organization. In 1984, a group of radical fundamentalist and antisecular Muslims around Cemalettin Kaplan left the AMGT and founded the Iran-oriented Federation of the Islamic Unions and Communities. In 1986 three members of AMGT were accused at the State Security Court in Ankara of attempting to establish a theocratic state in Turkey. They were also suspected of working as a connecting link between AMGT, the Kaplan group, and Iran.
The ideological orientation of AMGT is Islamist. It is based on the Qur’an, the sunnah (traditions of the Prophet), and shariah. The Qur’an ranks as the only legitimate constitution. The political developments in Iran are considered to be an important step toward the liberation of Islam and as a model for the reislamization of Turkish society. AMGT advocates the bipartite division of the world in accordance with Islamic international law (dar al-Islam/dr al-barb). Living in Western societies means living in societies alien and hostile to Islam. Integration into Western societies and adaptation to the Western way of life is strictly rejected and is regarded as a treason to Islam. Consequently AMGT is also opposed to the integration of Turkey into the European Community. Since the end of the 1980s, however, there have been indications of a new dialogue with trade unions, churches, and the media. But it is too early to tell if this portends a change in policy or if this is mainly a tactical move. Like other Muslim organizations, AMGT has applied for the legal status of “body of public law,” but no Muslim organization in Germany has yet been granted this status.
[See also Germany and the biography of Erbakan. ]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Binswanger, Karl, and Fethi Sipahioglu. Turkisch-islamische Vereine als Faktor deutsch-tiirkischer Koexistenz. Munich, 1988. Insightful study of religious and political organizations among Turks in Germany.
Gerholm, Tomas, and Yngve Georg Lithman, eds. The New Islamic Presence in Western Europe. London and New York, 1988. Collection of essays on the institutionalization of Islam in various European countries and on the changes in the religious experience through migration.
Landau, Jacob. “The National Salvation Party in Turkey.” Asian and African Studies 11.1 (1976): 1-57. Overview of the early years of the party and the political background of the AMGT.
HANNS THOMA-VENSKE