Paper abstract:

The Post-Soviet Era marked the emergence of new Republics in Central Asia. In this context - taking advantage of the social, political, and economic turmoil resulting from the dissolution of the Soviet Union - Islamic religious orders such as the Gülen community created a sphere of influence in most of the new-born Central Asian States by offering free education to the less advantaged members of the society, through the establishment of colleges and boarding schools. As analysed by the scholar Bayram Balcı - who focused on the cooperation between Islamic orders and the Turkish government in Central Asia - Turkey supported the presence of Sufi brotherhood (such as the Gülen community) in post-Soviet Central Asian Republics.

In partial contrast with the current narrative on this subject, we argue that the Turkish support to the Sufi communities’ schools was motivated by the opportunity to teach and spread a new narration of the historical and cultural relationships between Turkey and the emerging post-Soviet Central Asian Republics. As this paper aims to show, this narration emphasised shared history and Turkic roots, as well as similarities in terms of language and religious practices. Moreover, through an analysis of these institutes’ educational and cultural policies, this research aims also to show how their creation represented the cornerstone of the Turkish strategy to acquire some influence among the new-born Central Asian republics.