For decades, the Turkish diaspora in Germany was a field of competition between secular Turkish governments and more zealous groups which flourished among migrants to Europe, of which the best known was the Islamist movement Milli Gorus (National Vision). In those days, Turkey’s religious-affairs directorate tried to keep Turks both home and abroad within the confines of a relatively anodyne form of Islam which sat comfortably with modernity. The German government quietly welcomed Turkish officialdom’s role, with the security police keeping an eye on Milli Gorus. More recently, as Turkey’s government has taken on a more Islamist tone, the Ankara-based directorate (and its German arm, Ditib) seem to get along much better with Milli Gorus, though there is still some rivalry. 

diaspora：民族の離散
secular：宗教とは無関係の
flourished：活躍する
Milli Gorus：the largest Islamic organization operating in the West
directorate：省庁の局
confines：範囲
anodyne：当たり障りのない
modernity：現代風
officialdom：役人

That rapprochement made it somewhat easier for German federal states to negotiate with a broad range of local Islamic players and strike deals over matters like education, public holidays, ritual slaughter and so on. In 2012, Hamburg led the way by concluding a comprehensive accord with most of the Muslim groups in the city, including Ditib, mosques close to Milli Gorus, and a large group of pietistic ones (they follow a Turkish Sufi teacher called Suleyman Hilmi Tunahan, who died in 1959). The accord is known as a staatsvertrag, literally a state treaty. (Even in Hamburg, one Turkish group stayed out: the Alevis, practitioners of a relatively liberal form of Islam in which men and women pray together.) So far Bremen and Hesse are the only other two regions to have a similarly wide-ranging agreement, but Ditib and its rivals are present across Germany and all federal states have to deal with them at some level. 

rapprochement：関係改善
ritual slaughter：儀式的屠殺
accord：協定・合意
pietistic：敬虔な
stayed out：関係を持たない
practitioners：実践家

Only a couple of months ago, it looked as though the way was clear for German Islam eventually to receive a level of official acknowledgement comparable to that which has long been enjoyed by the Protestant and Catholic churches. (Although Germany is a secular state, the churches have an entrenched position as advisers on education and other matters of public interest, like broadcasting.) But last month’s putsch in Turkey complicated things. Ditib’s role is seen by some as ever-more political and controversial. A sermon drafted in Ankara was distributed through Ditib mosques; its text clearly followed Mr Erdogan’s line that the coup was fomented by supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a preacher based in Pennsylvania. 

eventually：結局
comparable：に匹敵する
entrenched：確立された
putsch：暴動
sermon ：教会の説教
drafted：起草する
fomented：扇動する

The Gulen movement does not found mosques but in Germany it runs dozens of educational and cultural centres, including night schools which boost the skills of children who are struggling at, say, maths or history. All these establishments have complained that they are receiving unfriendly attention from Ditib and other pro-Erdogan forces in Germany’s diaspora. Ditib denies making any threats. But a Gulen-inspired night school in a poor district of Hamburg, with no obvious connection with religion, said about 10% of its pupils had been withdrawn by parents under pressure from pro-Erdogan forces. This unpleasant situation has emboldened the large body of opinion in Germany which thinks the government should simply sever ties with Ditib.  

emboldened：元気付ける・励ます
sever ：関係を絶つ

North Rhine Westphalia, the most populous federal state, already accepts Ditib as a member of an advisory council, but moves towards a broader relationship were put on hold in recent days. The state premier, Hannelore Kraft, said “doubts are growing” about the legitimacy of the agency’s claim to be an independent religious community. Two other states, Lower Saxony and Rhineland Palatinate, went slow on negotiations on formal collaboration with Ditib. In response, the agency insisted that it is already politically independent of Ankara and that it planned over time to become financially independent too. But some of the strongest calls for cutting ties with Ditib have come from centre-left and Green politicians in Germany who are of Turkish descent and therefore feel they have a keen nose for government influence; they are sceptical that Ditib is anything other than a tool of Mr Erdogan. Ditib is formally constituted as a Geman organisation, in whose governance Ankara participates. 

put on hold：保留する
legitimacy：合法性
descent：〜系

Meanwhile Germany’s top politicians, federal and regional, are caught in the middle. Paradoxically, their dilemma has arisen because of the great religious liberty that is enjoyed in the Federal Republic. Muslims appreciate that too. In the enthusiastic words of Mohamed Taher Sabri, imam of a large mosque in one of Berlin’s poorer districts, Germany’s constitution is a “God-given” document which enables all kinds of religion to flourish and offer moral guidance. Not many Muslim countries tolerate such diversity. But for better or worse, Germany’s masters have to live with the messy consequences of freedom. 

in the middle：板挟みに
Paradoxically：逆説的に言えば
masters：宗教的指導者
messy：複雑で扱いにくい

日曜日。今日はこれまで。エルドアンに対するクデーターのおかげで、ドイツのトルコ人とそのイスラム教団体がそれに影響されている。エルドアンはギュレンをクーデターに関わっているとしたので、それに関連したドイツの学校が被害を受けている。ドイツのイスラム系の団体はトルコから独立しているとは言ってもその影響を受けているので、ドイツ国内で彼らを問題視し始めている。厄介な問題だ。

昨日は海野塾があった。懇親会もあった。木元に引っ越しの手伝いもしてもらった。今日は朝から研修資料のレビューがある。午後は荷物を倉庫に持っていかなければならない。明日は新しい事務所で始めての研修がある。まだ整理が必要だ。ではまた明日。