84 · Gökçe Yurdakul and Y. Michal Bodemann
an antidiscrimination network to influence the preparation process of
the new antidiscrimination law and then organized a seminar to inform
the public about this law, some members of the Jewish community were
present. In this and similar projects, the TBB has cooperated with the Jew-
ish community of Berlin against discrimination and racism.^51
Jewish Institutional Structures as Organizational Models
While the TBB attempts to form an alliance with the Jewish community
and employs the Jewish narrative in its substance, the Turkish Commu-
nity of Berlin (Türkische Gemeinde zu Berlin, henceforth referred as Ce-
maat, as it is known among Turks), one of its Turkish nationalist and
religious counterparts, employs Jewishness as a model. It focuses on, and
emulates, the Jewish institutional structure in order to receive recognition
for Muslim religious rights in Germany. Accordingly, for the first time,
(Turkish) Muslims see themselves as a diaspora and are looking for mod-
els of diasporic life. The vice chairman of the Central Council of Muslims
in Germany, for example, recently observed that Muslims lack a theology
of integration. The old scriptures rarely, if ever, explained how to behave
in non-Muslim societies.^52
Jewish institutional structures are used as models for religious Turk-
ish associations in order to achieve the type of community solidarity
and collective unity they believe to be present in the Jewish associations.
Although Jewish organizations have different interests and are often in
conflict, these conflicts are not readily apparent to the mass media or
to outsiders. Unaware of possible contention within Jewish associations,
the executive committee member of the Cemaat, Ahmet Yılmaz, glorifies
their strong fellowship:
I wish from Allah that no other nation would live the difficulties
that the Jewish nation had experienced, but [I wish from Allah that
he would] provide their solidarity to everyone. There is a Jewish
community that speaks for all Jews. My heart wishes that all Turk-
ish organizations will come together under the same roof, and keep
equal distance to all [German political] parties.^53Although Yılmaz’s yearnings have not been realized, his organization
has modeled its organizational structure on the Jewish Community in
Berlin, in both its hierarchy and its religious orientation. Indeed, the