Accompanying this Daily Sabah story is a photo from the Cologne Central Mosque in Germany. The place is packed, and it’s clearly a grand structure. It was completed in 2017. Now: where in Turkey have Christians been allowed to build a comparably large and imposing church in the last five years? Ten? Twenty? In Turkey, religious minority populations suffer severe restrictions of their rights. Turkish authorities don’t allow the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to have any legal identity, and consequently it can’t own any property, even its own churches. Numerous Christian properties have been confiscated.
But Çağatay Kılıç, acknowledging none of this, would have us believe that the real place where religious minorities are having a hard time is in Europe, where Muslim migrants are streaming in and going on welfare, getting everything provided for them by the state. And people will fall for it.
“Racism in Europe has reached peak: Senior Turkish lawmaker,” by Betül Usta, Daily Sabah, October 17, 2022:
Racism and discrimination against religious identities in Europe have reached a peak, the head of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission Çağatay Kılıç said Monday.
Noting that the commission follows political and social developments closely, Kılıç said that the rise of far-right parties and racist approaches in Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Switzerland and some Balkan countries is worrying….
“Islamophobia comes first among racism. Racism against religion is at its peak in Germany. We understand this from the attacks on mosques. There are disrespects such as drawing a swastika and leaving a pig’s head. Considering the public opinion polls, the far-right AFD is the first party in the German state of Brandenburg. Racism is a contagious element, and when it is infected, it evolves into events that will harm social life,” he warned, underlining that members of different religions are excluded from political decision-making processes.
“There are those in Europe who say, ‘We need to restrict the movement and living space of Muslims unless they adapt to us.’ This contradicts the basic values that Europe claims and puts forward,” he added.
He highlighted that a report on Islamophobia was published in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last week and added: “A human being is an entity with thoughts, feelings, beliefs and social networks. If a person is not allowed to live with these characteristics, this person’s fundamental rights and freedoms are taken away from them.”…
Anti-Muslim attitudes are widespread in Germany, according to a recent study conducted by the Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR).
Nearly 48% of respondents said they believe “Islam is not compatible with German society,” while 29% suggested restricting the practice of Islam in the country.
“Negative attitudes towards Islam are widespread in all groups examined-people with and without a migration background,” the researchers said in their report….
