In late April, the German state of Hessen announced it will end its eight-year cooperation with the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) for religion classes at schools. The official reason for ending the partnership is that the DITIB is not seen as independent from the Turkish state.
The DITIB is a branch of the Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate, or Diyanet. It has offices all around the world, including the United States, with hundreds of mosques and thousands of imams and teachers. But its stronghold is Europe due to the large Turkish diaspora the continent hosts. At least 5.5 million Turkish citizens reside in Western Europe.