The trial against those arrested in June 2023 has now started in St Petersburg, with new and more bizarre charges.
by Massimo Introvigne
“Bitter Winter” reported about the police raid in Russia in June 2023 against followers of the large Turkish Muslim organization Süleymancılar, a two-million-strong international Sufi group that is regarded by many as a legitimate part of Islam, although its leaders in Türkiye have some political and electoral problems with the Erdoğan government.
The trial against those arrested in June 2023 has now started in St. Petersburg, and is being reported in sensational terms by conservative Orthodox media. In a style typical of Russian (and non-Russian) anti-cult reporting, they go around the Internet and reproduce whatever negative information they may find against the Süleymancılar, whose main “sin” in Russia is proselyting among Orthodox believers.
However, within the paranoid climate created by the war of aggression against Ukraine, a new accusation is being directed at the Süleymancılar, that it works for the German intelligence against Türkiye and Russia. We read that “the Süleymancılar jamaat may be connected with the activities of the intelligence services of Germany, where the largest Süleymancılar community outside Türkiye is located. The Director of the Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies, Elena Panina, drew attention to one interesting point… To approve Sweden’s entry into the NATO, Türkiye demanded that Germany stop supporting Süleymancılar. In parallel with the news about discussions within the AKP [Erdoğan ‘s party] regarding Sweden, other publications appeared. Their authors also took up arms against Germany, whose intelligence, through the Süleymancılar religious network, is allegedly trying to harm Turkish interests. They have already demanded that Berlin stops interacting with the Süleymancılar.”
The Turkish move was probably generated by the Süleymancılar’s anti-Erdoğan position in the 2023 elections. However, there is nothing sinister or suspicious in the recognition of the Süleymancılar in Germany. They are a large Islamic group, and democratic countries do not make support of Erdoğan in the Turkish elections a pre-conditions for recognizing Turkish Muslim groups.
That the German intelligence may use the few members of the Süleymancılar in Russia for operations against the Russian government is an unproven conspiracy theory. Similar unfounded accusations have targeted several religious organizations that proselyte among Russian Orthodox believers. Obviously, they expose members of these organizations to the risk of receiving heavy jail penalties for espionage.
