EU Not Ready To Combat Islamophobia - Rising Wave If Islamophobia In Europe

17 May 2018

Daily Sabah

The European Union is not ready to tackle Islamophobia, according to a foreign affairs expert from a leading Turkish think tank.

"Because of fears of political considerations, European politicians are not ready to tackle this issue seriously," Dr. Enes Bayraklı of Ankara-based Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) told Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of a three-day conference on Islamophobia at Istanbul's Sabahattin Zaim University.

"I don't see in the very near future it will happen, but it has to happen," said Bayraklı who has also been the co-editor of the annual European Islamophobia Report since 2015.

"European Parliament and the E.U. should acknowledge Islamophobia as a form of racism," he added.

Bayraklı said that an increase of Islamophobic policies and attacks have been seen in Europe especially after the beginning of Syrian civil war.

According to the European Islamophobia Report 2017, a rising wave of Islamophobia has taken hold in Europe.

The report revealed 908 crimes, ranging from verbal and physical attacks to murder attempts, targeting Muslims in Germany, as well as 664 in Poland, 364 in the Netherlands, 256 in Austria, 121 in France, 56 in Denmark, and 36 in Belgium.

"What we are seeing is that the far-right discourse is now dominating, unfortunately, the European politics," Bayraklı said.

"The far right discourse about Muslims is normalized," he added.

"Although the far right is not in the power in the majority of European countries, their discourse is already governing many of the European countries," Bayraklı said.

According to Bayraklı, the majority of the politicians as well as media and political elites are rejecting the notion of Islamophobia.

"Denying the existence of the problem is a big part of the problem," Bayraklı said.

Bayraklı said that political and judicial recognition of Islamophobia was important.

Bayraklı said that Germany has recently started recording Islamophobic attacks as a separate category.

"They have recorded more than 900 attacks in one year. Around 100 mosques have been attacked in Germany in one year. Every three days one mosque has been attacked in Germany. That is quite a lot," he said.

"Considering these numbers we don't see the outrage of the media and politicians. They are keeping silence about this issue because of the dominance of far-right discourse," Bayraklı said.

Far-right Groups Attack 3 Mosques In The Netherlands

Far-right groups have attacked three mosques in the Netherlands, a Muslim charity fund official said Thursday.

The extreme right-wing Rechts in Verzet group early Thursday put up banners with Islamophobic content in the entrance of two mosques in Enschede province, Cevdet Keskin from the Netherlands Diyanet Foundation, or NDF, told Anadolu Agency.

Another mosque complex in Houten province -- frequented Moroccan-origin Dutch citizens -- was also desecrated by a far-right group which also put up banners with anti-Islam slogans at the entrance of the mosque.

The group shared footage of the banners on their social media account which read, "We don't want a mosque", and "Islam is terror".

Keskin said that the attack was yet another sign of rising Islamophobia in the country.

"The continued attacks on the mosques in the Netherlands show that necessary measures are not being taken. We expect from the relevant authorities to do their best for the security of mosques," he said.

Keskin said that a complaint was filed with the police after the mosque visitors found the banners.

Rising wave of Islamophobia

The Islamic houses of worship across Europe have endured dozens of attacks since January as attackers attempted to arson them with Molotov cocktails or spray-painted terror symbols or racist slurs on the walls. Luckily, the attacks caused no casualties.

The European Islamophobia Report 2017 -- unveiled by the Ankara-based Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) on Wednesday -- revealed 908 crimes, ranging from verbal and physical attacks to murder attempts, targeting Muslims in Germany, as well as 664 in Poland, 364 in the Netherlands, 256 in Austria, 121 in France, 56 in Denmark, and 36 in Belgium.

Arson targets Berlin mosque in latest string of PKK, far-right attacks in Germany

A Turkish mosque in German capital Berlin was set on fire early Sunday in the latest incident of a series of attacks targeting the country's Turkish and Muslim community by PKK sympathizers and far-right groups.

The attack on Koca Sinan Mosque of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB) in Reinickendorf district near Berlin took place around 02:00 a.m. local time.

Bayram Türk, the religious official of the mosque, told Anadolu Agency that the mosque's entrance and the tea shop was on fire when he arrived to the scene, and firefighters were intervening.

Türk said that two people stated that they saw three assailants wearing masks throwing inflammable material to the mosque and running away from the scene.

Berlin police stated that they suspect an attack on the mosque since the glass on the door of the mosque's tea shop was broken first, adding that an investigation is underway.

Türk said that the fire rendered the mosque unusable.

The suspected attack was the final incident in hundreds of attacks that targeted the country's Turkish and Muslim communities amid a rising far-right trend after a massive refugee influx. There were 950 attacks in Germany last year on Muslims or places linked to Islam, according to the interior ministry.

Attacks by PKK sympathizers gained pace after the launch of Turkey's Operation Olive Branch to root out PKK-affiliated People's Protection Forces (YPG) terrorists in Afrin on Jan. 20. Numerous mosques and Turkish community centers in several German cities and even the Turkish embassy in Berlin have been attacked by YPG/PKK supporters.

On Saturday, a webpage affiliated with the PKK and its Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has posted a video footage of an attack early Friday on a mosque in southwestern Germany.

The Akşemsettin Mosque -- belonging to the Muslim-Turkish association Islamic Community National View (IGMG) -- in the town of Lauffen am Neckar near Stuttgart was attacked at 02.00 a.m. (0100GMT) Friday.

The arson at the mosque caused material damage before the imam managed to extinguish the blaze. There were no casualties.

Video footage of the attack was posted on the PKK-affiliated webpage Roja Civan, showing four people attacking the windows and doors of the mosque with Molotov cocktails while another attacker is breaking the windows with rocks.

The attackers later flee the scene.

Other PKK-propaganda posts were also found on the webpage, which says, "As long as the attack on Afrin continues, the resistance will grow daily," referring to the current Turkish-led counter-terrorism campaign in northwestern Syria.

German police said Saturday they had opened a probe into attempted murder after a fire at a mosque near Stuttgart where Molotov cocktails were thrown.

Stuttgart prosecutors and local police said five people were being sought for attempted murder.

A joint statement said "several Molotov cocktails were thrown into the mosque through an open window," adding that they were treating the incident as a possible racist or anti-Islamic attack.

Germany is home to some three million ethnic Turks. On Saturday the leader of the community, Gökay Sofuoğlu, denounced the incident as an "inhumane crime" and an "act of terrorism".

The PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993, but it remains active, with nearly 14,000 followers among the country's Kurdish immigrant population.

Turkey has long criticized Germany for not taking serious measures against the PKK, which uses the country as a platform for their fund-raising, recruitment, and propaganda activities.

Germany has a three million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second- and third-generation German-born citizens of Turkish descent whose grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.
 

©  EsinIslam.Com

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