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Dr. Ahmet Erdi Öztürk is an associate professor of politics and international relations at London Metropolitan University. He is also working as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at Coventry University in the UK and GIGA in Germany (between 2021-2023), an associate researcher (Chercheur Associé) at Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes, and a Non-Resident Scholar with ELIAMEP’s Turkey Program. His the co-editor of the Edinburgh University Press Series on Modern Turkey, Middle East Critique, and Southeast Europe and Black Sea Studies. He is the author of more than 25 peer-review journal articles, numerous policy reports, opinion pieces, and co-editor of five special issues on religion and politics and Turkish politics. His new book Religion, Identity and Power: Turkey and the Balkans in the Twenty-First Century was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2021 and he was the winner of London Met’s Emerging Scholar Award in 2021.
Competing over Islam: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in the Balkans
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran have been the main competitors in a struggle over who — and in what manner — should act as the patron of Muslims in the Balkans. These three countries are very different in terms of their historical footprint, economic and political presence, and local networks. What they share, however, is the use of Islam to exert soft power. This paper will discuss how they are seeking to wield influence, how regional actors respond to their overtures, and whether these three countries are meeting their objectives in the region.
