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Balkan Islam a Barrier Or a Bridge for Radicalisation?

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BALKAN ISLAM A BARRIER OR A BRIDGE FOR RADICALISATION? E con titute omic ns Ins s and International Relatio Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office Bulgaria 97, Knjaz Boris I St. 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria Tel.: +359 2 980 8747 Fax: +359 2 980 2438 http://www.fes-bulgaria.org [email protected] © Cover foto: Ivan Stoimenov ISBN 978-954-2979-38-8 The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung or of the organisation for which the author works. Commercial use of all media, published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), is not permitted without the written consent of the FES. ECONOMICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS INSTITUTE FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG BULGARIAN DIPLOMATIC SOCIETY BALKAN ISLAM A BARRIER OR A BRIDGE FOR RADICALISATION? Prof. Iskra Baeva, PhD Biser Banchev, PhD Bobi Bobev Peter Vodenski Lyubomir Kyuchukov, PhD Lyubcho Neshkov Lyubcho Troharov Editor Lyubomir Kyuchukov, PhD Sofia, 2018 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Foreword – Helene Kortländer, PhD; Lyubomir Kyuchukov, PhD; Philip Bokov .....................................3 2. Balkan Islam and Radicalisation: a Barrier in front of the Bridge – Lyubomir Kyuchukov, PhD .....................5 3. Albania: Both a Bridge and a Barrier for Islamic Radicalism – Bobi Bobev, PhD ...................................20 4. Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Lyubcho Troharov ..............34 5. Islam in Bulgaria: Most Muslims in Bulgaria Practice Traditional Islam – Prof. Iskra Baeva, PhD ....................48 6. Kosovo: a Collision Between Traditional Tolerance and Radicalism – Bobi Bobev, PhD .............................61 7. There is No Internal Islamic Threat in Macedonia, Foreign Forces Import Radical Islam – Lyubcho Neshkov ............................................................73 8. The Muslim Communities in Serbia: Between Integration and Radicalisation – Biser Banchev, PhD ................86 9. Islam in Turkey – Peter Vodensky ...............................................99 2 FOREWORD There are sizeable Muslim communities in many of the Balkan countries. As a whole, the region is characterised by the moderate nature of the Balkan Islam and tolerant relations among religions. In the last years, however, wars and political confrontation have drawn new dividing lines within local societies on ethnic and religious basis. The actions of the “Islamic State” and the terrorist acts in Europe placed additional strain on the local Islamic communities. Available evidence confirms the fact that a sizeable number of Islamic fighters in the Middle East originated from South-eastern Europe. The purpose of this study is to make a political assessment of the role of the local Islamic communities in the Balkans in these processes, to analyse the tendencies among them in the different countries, the risks of radicalisation and external interference. The outlining of the region-wide dimensions of the problem would help to stimulate the dialogue among the religious confessions and regional cooperation with a view of prevent- ing possible radicalisation of the Islamic communities in the region The study encompasses seven Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey and tries to adhere to a unified approach, reflecting the signifi- cance of the following issues in each of the countries: • general outline of the picture of the religious beliefs in the respective country and the role and place of Islam; • the Islamic communities – legal status, relations with the institutions of the state, existence of different Islamic trends, religious organisa- tions, Islamic schools; • political parties on a religious or ethnic basis and their relations with Islam (if any), their influence in the country; • processes and tendencies among the Islamic community in the coun- try – risks of radicalisation, possible influence of the ideology of the “Islamic State”; • foreign influence on the local Islamic communities (if any) – origin, objectives, methods, financing; 3 • recruitment of jihadist fighters from the respective country, including returnees from the Middle East – dynamics, problems, manifestations; • risk assessment related to radical Islamist groups; • measures against Islamic radicalisation after the year 2000 (if any); • the local Islamic communities – a barrier or a bridge for radicalisation. The country reports were prepared by Bulgarian experts with in-depth professional knowledge about the respective countries – ambassadors, ac- ademics, journalists. The texts are the authors’ analyses of the complex and contradictory processes and tendencies in the region and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the “Friedrich Ebert” Foundation, the Economics and International Relations Institute and the Bulgarian Diplomatic Society. Helene Kortländer, PhD, Director of the Office Bulgaria, of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Lyubomir Kyuchukov, PhD, Director of the Economics and International Relations Institute Philip Bokov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Society 4 BALKAN ISLAM AND RADICALISATION: A BARRIER IN FRONT OF THE BRIDGE Lyubomir Kyuchukov, PhD Religious Beliefs in the Region, Role and Place of Islam There is a substantial variety of religious beliefs in the Balkan region, but with a single dominating religion in most of the countries. The countries whose population is primarily Christian predominate, Eastern Orthodoxy being much more widespread. Catholicism is present mainly in the west- ern part of the peninsula. Islam is the dominant religion in Turkey and Bos- nia and Herzegovina with a growing influence also among the Albanian population (in Albania proper, Kosovo, and among the Albanian minorities in the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and the other post-Yugoslav states). Islam was brought among the Balkan peoples at a relatively later stage and arrived on the peninsula with its conquest by the Ottoman Empire after the 14th - 15th centuries. This created a specific historic reli- gious-state linkage of Islam with the Turkish state, which exists until now as a public attitude. That is why even at present traditional Balkan Islam preserves its link with Turkey. Within the Ottoman Empire Islam was a state, dominating religion, defin- ing the status of the subjects – the “faithful” and “rayah”. Its expansion was taking place both voluntarily by virtue of economic and political factors (mainly in the Albanian ethnic area) and by force – through the Islamisation of the local population. Subsequently this process stimulated internal division and separa- tion within the different ethnoses on the basis of religion, creating conditions for the formation of new ethno-religious groups - Bosniaks1*, Pomaks, etc. At the same time, albeit with a different, not fully equal status in the Ottoman Empire, Christianity preserved its serious presence and influ- ence among the Balkan peoples during all those centuries. This created certain traditions of common and parallel existence of the two religions, * Note of the translator: Due to the extremely complicated ethnic and national situation in the Balkans, where ethnicity does not always coincide with citizenship, several conventions for the terms used have been adopted here in order to avoid confusion. E.g. Bosniak, Serb, Croat denote ethnicity; Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian denote citizenship. 5 expressed in a fairly high degree of religious tolerance among Balkan soci- eties after the collapse of the empire in the 19th – 20th century. The Muslims in the Balkans are mainly Sunni (in Turkey – 80%), while the rest are Shia (mainly alevis) and representatives of different sects. Islamic Communities – Legal Status, Relations with the Institutions of the State, Religious Organisations, Islamic Schools In all Balkan countries religion is separated from the state constitutionally. The executive has no legal right to interfere in the organisation and oper- ation of the existing religious structures and in many countries it is neutral by definitionvis a vis them (in certain cases – Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, etc. the leading or traditional religion in the country is specified). A specific example of a more unequivocal commitment of the state to the affairs of religion is the activity of the Directorate for Religious Affairs (Diyanet) in Turkey as a state instrument for influencing the organisation (and indeed the beliefs) of the Muslims – not only of the ongoing Islamis- ation processes in the country but in the entire Balkan region. The Islamic communities are clearly distinct (in most cases both ethnically and geographically) and well organised, with their own religious structures, elected religious leaderships, as well as the nec- essary infrastructure and financial capabilities to perform their activ- ities. With certain exceptions (Bulgaria, Serbia) they are also suffi- ciently internally consolidated. In the last two decades mass construction of mosques can be ob- served in all countries with prevailing Muslim population in the region – in the ones, where the role of Islam in politics is growing (Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina), as well as in the Albanian area (Albania, Kosovo, Northern and Western Macedonia, Preševo and also in Sandžak in Serbia). There is also another tendency – the shortage of sufficient Islamic educational establishments and a vacuum in the training of local imams and preachers created the conditions for the infiltration of organisations and ideas for- eign to the Balkan Islam. 6 Processes and Tendencies Among the Islamic Communities in
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