The recent inauguration of the Namazgja Mosque in Tirana, Albania, attended by both Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has raised concerns about Turkey’s expanding influence in the Balkans. The mosque, financed entirely by Turkey to the tune of 30 million euros, stands as the largest in the region, a symbol of Turkey’s enduring ties to the Balkans, dating back over six centuries to the Ottoman Empire.
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While at first glance, the opening of a mosque may seem like a gesture of goodwill, deeper implications of this event have not gone unnoticed. Historically, the Ottoman Empire spread its influence through a combination of religious and military efforts. Before deploying its armies, the Empire would send religious leaders—imams—to the lands it sought to control. These clerics preached Islam, not just as a religion but as a political force, which later facilitated the empire's military conquests. Today, some argue that Erdogan’s Turkey is following a similar script, albeit with new tools.
Erdogan’s choice to appoint a Turkish imam to lead the Namazgja Mosque—built on land owned by the Albanian Muslim community but primarily managed through a Turkish foundation—has drawn criticism. Albania, with a significant Muslim population, is seen as fertile ground for Turkey’s growing regional ambitions. The absence of key leaders from Albania’s Muslim community during the inauguration, reportedly due to their ties to the Gulen movement (a movement Erdogan views as a terrorist organization), only deepened suspicions of Turkey’s intent. Erdogan's government considers Gulenists, who have had strong ties to Albania's Islamic leadership, as dangerous opposition, and replacing these figures with Turkish-aligned clerics seems to be part of a broader geopolitical strategy.
Further adding to the complexity, the Namazgja Mosque is not just a religious gift. Turkey has recently supplied Albania with military drones, signaling that its interests in the country extend beyond cultural and religious ties. This combination of religious soft power and military assistance recalls the dual approach of the Ottoman Empire, which often used religion as a gateway to expand its political and military reach.
While Erdogan focuses on Islam as a cultural link to Albania, his approach to Serbia is markedly different. Unlike Albania, Serbia is predominantly Orthodox Christian, with far fewer Muslims to rally around a religious connection. Yet, Erdogan is expected to sign economic agreements with Serbia, indicating that while religious influence might be less effective there, Turkey’s ambitions in the region are not limited to cultural or religious bonds. Instead, economic ties serve as a means for influence where Islam holds little sway.
This dual strategy in the Balkans—religious outreach in Muslim-majority countries like Albania and economic partnerships in Orthodox-majority states like Serbia—highlights Turkey’s adaptive foreign policy under Erdogan. Some experts see this as part of Erdogan's broader goal of re-establishing Turkey as a dominant force in the region, akin to its Ottoman predecessor. The timing of Erdogan’s visits and actions in the Balkans suggests a calculated effort to counter rival influences, particularly that of the Gulen movement, which remains popular among certain factions of the Albanian Muslim leadership.
Not to be overlooked is the historical irony: the founder of modern secular Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was of Albanian descent, and his vision for a modern, secular Turkey is now at odds with Erdogan’s more religious and expansionist policies. Gulen himself, whose movement seeks to reconcile Islam with modern values, follows a vision closer to Atatürk’s, and his support among the Albanian diaspora in Turkey presents an additional challenge for Erdogan’s ambitions.
For Albania, a country that prides itself on religious harmony, the Namazgja Mosque has become a focal point for broader geopolitical maneuverings. Prime Minister Rama emphasized religious tolerance in his speech during the mosque’s opening, even referencing the historical figure Haxhi Hafiz Ibrahim Dalliu, a Muslim leader who was instrumental in Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912. Yet, while Albania’s leadership seeks to balance its relationships with Turkey, the mosque’s inauguration has sparked concerns about the potential for increased Turkish influence—religious, political, and military—on Albania’s sovereignty.
Erdogan's rhetoric during the ceremony further underscores Turkey’s broader ambitions. Alongside his praise for the "centuries-old" ties between Turkey and the Balkans, Erdogan used the platform to launch an attack on Israel over its conflict with Gaza, accusing it of “state terrorism.” This shift to a global stage, invoking Islam’s broader struggles, seems part of Erdogan’s ongoing effort to position himself as a leader of the Muslim world, capable of defending Muslim communities globally, from the Middle East to the Balkans.
In conclusion, while the inauguration of the Namazgja Mosque appears on the surface as a symbol of friendship between Albania and Turkey, the underlying motivations may be more complex. With religious appointments, military aid, and economic deals, Erdogan’s Turkey seems poised to extend its influence in the Balkans, much as the Ottoman Empire did centuries ago. For Albania, a nation that once fought for its independence from Ottoman rule, the question now is whether history is repeating itself in a more subtle, but equally potent form.