page_title: British Turks
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: British Turks / Culture / Religion
caption_attribution_description: English: The construction of Suleymaniye mosque began in 1995 and was finally opened to the public in October 1999. With a total floor space of 8000 square meters, the total capacity of its Ottoman style mosque is 3000 people. The mosque which is decorated in a typical Turkish calligraphy is one part of the whole complex, other parts include a conference and wedding hall, Guest rooms, class rooms, and funeral service facilities as well as accomodation for the staff.
context_page_description: British Turks or Turks in the United Kingdom are Turkish people who have immigrated to the United Kingdom. However, the term may also refer to British-born persons who have Turkish parents or who have a Turkish ancestral background.
  Turks first began to emigrate in large numbers from the island of Cyprus for work and then again when Turkish Cypriots were forced to leave their homes during the Cyprus conflict. Turks then began to come from Turkey for economic reasons. Recently, smaller groups of Turks have begun to immigrate to the United Kingdom from other European countries.
  As of 2011, there was a total of about 500,000 people of Turkish origin in the UK, made up of approximately 150,000 Turkish nationals and about 300,000 Turkish Cypriots. Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a growing number of ethnic Turks immigrating to the United Kingdom from Algeria and Germany. Many other Turks have immigrated to Britain from parts of the southern Balkans where they form an indigenous ethnic and religious minority dating to the early Ottoman period, particularly Bulgaria, Romania, the Republic of North Macedonia, and the province of East Macedonia and Thrace in Northern Greece.
context_section_description: The vast majority of the Turkish community are Sunni Muslims, whilst the remaining people generally do not have any religious affiliation. Nonetheless, even those who define themselves as not being religious feel that Islam has had an influence of their Turkish identity. There is mostly a lack of knowledge about the basic principles of Islam within the younger generations. The young generation of the community tends to have little knowledge about their religion and generally do not fulfill all religious duties. However, the majority of young Turks still believe in Islam and the basic principles of the religion as it has more of a symbolic attachment to them due to traditional Turkish values.
  In recent years there has also been a strong movement towards religion by the community with the growth of Islamic organisations.  The desire to retain an identity has increased the strength of Islam among the communities. Clinging to traditions is seen as a way of maintaining culture and identity. Nonetheless, young Turkish Muslims are brought up in a more liberal home environment than other British Muslims. Thus, there are many Turks, especially the younger generations, who do not abstain from eating non-halal food or drinking alcohol, whilst still identifying as Muslim.
  The establishment of mosques has always been considered a priority within the Turkish community. The first Turkish mosque, Shacklewell Lane Mosque, was established by the Turkish Cypriot community in 1977. There are numerous other Turkish Mosques in London, mainly in Hackney, that are predominantly used by the Turkish community, especially the Aziziye Mosque and Suleymaniye Mosque. Notable Turkish mosques outside London include Selimiye Mosque in Manchester, Hamidiye Mosque in Leicester, and Osmaniye Mosque in Stoke-on-Trent.
  Activities are held in many Turkish mosques in order to retain an Islamic identity and to pass these traditional values onto the younger generation. These mosques have introduced new policies and strategies within their establishments as they have recognised that traditional methods are not very productive within the British context. For example, one mosque has opened an independent primary school whilst another has been granted permission to register weddings in its mosque. Other mosques have even allowed the formation of small market places.
caption: Suleymaniye Mosque in Dalston, London.
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