Turkish Mosques in England and Their Socio-Cultural Contributions to Integration Process

Abstract

Since the very beginning of 1950s, the Turks started to migrate to European countries due to different reasons. As consequences of increasing migration waves and the fact that Turkish people have constituted a considerable portion of the population in the host countries, the first generation yielded primarily to build masjids to perform basic religious duties and then the second and third generation tended to construct institutional complexes that become integrated with the surrounding parts. With their religious, social, cultural and educational functions, these multi-functional mosques have played key roles up to present date to protect the religious and national values and contributed considerably to the integration process of the Turkish immigrants to their hosting countries. This article deals with the Turkish mosques in England and their basic functions.