Turkey in Central Asia: Contribution of State and Non-Governmental Actors in the Development of a Turkish Islamic Influence in the Post-Soviet Republics

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, independent republics emerged in Central Asia. Cultural and religious ties to Turkey encouraged Ankara to place newly independent Central Asian states at the center of its new ambitious foreign policy for rapprochement so as to increase its influence in the Turkish speaking world. Paradoxically, while Turkey is often made a model of secular development for the Arab and Muslim world, religious cooperation was the most successful. Indeed, Turkey’s ambitions met the support of official institutions like the Diyanet but also of massive private investors and organizations, among which the Fethullah Gülen movement, and all together they were the most influential foreign inspiration in the Islamic revival occurring all across Central Asia. Measuring this influence is not an easy task, but the new Islamic elites who received education in Turkey or in Central Asia thanks to Turkish cooperation programs are the most visible result of Turkey’s religious influence over Central Asia.