Picture this: A group of well-mannered, middle-aged men and women are traveling to the picturesque Aegean town of Ayvalik as the mosque’s loudspeakers announce, “Strangers have entered our village, do not open your doors.” Members of the secular nongovernmental organization (NGO) Ataturkist Thought Association experienced this April 4 as they approached the town to talk to the residents about the upcoming referendum. They were the ones the imam called strangers. Ahmet Uzgec, the head of the NGO, told the media that there is quite a bit of confusion among citizens. Some elderly were told that if the April 16 referendum on providing greater powers to the Turkish presidency does not pass, their retirement funds will be cut off, along with the government aid provided for the disabled.

The event in Ayvalik, where advocates of the NGO were shunned by the imam, was not an isolated incident. Not many can dispute that the mosques have become campaign centers for Erdogan’s referendum. Indeed, there are several examples, some of which were documented by opposition media outlets.

For example, on Feb. 3, Huseyin Gulec, the imam of a prominent mosque in the Umraniye district of Istanbul, was recorded by a phone camera advocating for "yes" during his Friday sermon. Umraniye has voted overwhelmingly for Islamist parties since 1994, but it is still home to rather moderate Muslims as well. Gulec told the congregation that those who oppose the presidential system are ignorant. The imam’s statements were passionately pro-government as he defended the state of the Turkish economy and warned against those criticizing the government. He cursed the naysayers, saying they were against the grandiose infrastructural successes of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), such as the third airport. However, Gulec backed down as one member of the congregation yelled, “This is a mosque and we are here to pray, but you are declaring naysayers as traitors.” Immediately, Gulec reverted back to reciting prayers in Arabic.

In Turkey, nearly all mosques — and there are almost 85,000 — are registered under Turkey’s official religious body, the Diyanet, which is currently operating under the prime minister’s office. The Diyanet has extensive human and capital resources both inside and outside Turkey. The Turkish state not only trains and pays the salaries of the imams, but also covers the expenses of the mosques. In return, the imams — who are government employees — have to follow strict government guidelines in their sermons. Imams who fail to adhere to these sermons, particularly in Kurdish areas, have been prosecuted for decades.