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Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 6 2015
Racism in Germany has reached a desperate level
OZAN CEYHUN @ozanceyhun
Published19 hours ago
When taking into consideration the question of racism in Germany, I
think it should not be compared with racist parties or movements in
other countries such as Golden Dawn in Greece and the National Front
Party in France.
There is a saying in German: "Bevor wir andere kritisieren, sollten
wir erst einmal vor der eigenen Tür kehren," which translates as, "We
should first clean our own doorway before criticizing others." And
Germany urgently needs to take its own advice.
Now, when certain groups with close relations with the Armenian
diaspora, and groups who are against Turkey in Germany were preparing
to stage demonstrations against Turkey in May, Prime Minister Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu met the representatives of the non-Muslim minority
communities at a lunch in Istanbul. Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch
Bartholomew, Deputy Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church Peter
Stefanos, Vicar-General of the Chaldean Catholic community of Turkey
Francois Yakan, Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church Yusuf
Çetin, Turkish ambassador to the Vatican Mehmet Paçacı, Patriarchal
Vicar of the Syrian Catholic Church in Turkey Yusuf SaÄ?, Apostolic
Administrator of the Armenian Catholic Archbishop Levan Zekiyan, Chief
Rabbi Ä°shak Haleva and Archbishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Aram AteÅ?yan attended.
During the meeting, it was decided to construct a new church in
Istanbul's YeÅ?ilköy neighborhood, and a fact that some circles in the
EU insist on ignoring was once again underlined ` non-Muslims living
in Turkey are content with the new Turkey.
However, Muslims living in Germany are anxious.
The members of a new German "intellectual," racist organization, the
Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident (PEGIDA),
gather every Monday and march against Islam. And they have recently
drawn swastikas and written racist slogans such as "down with Islam,"
"Turks will be killed" and "swine Turks" on the walls of Burg Primary
School, Leibniz High School and other buildings located in
Schüztenplatz Square in the town of Dormagen, which is 593 kilometers
from Dresden where almost no Muslims live.
This is not the first ugly attack in Dormagen. On Dec. 21, 2014, at
around 4:20 a.m., the Dormagen Ditib Mosque was the target of a racist
attack. The Police launched an investigation into the attack, in which
racist and hateful words were written on the walls and the minaret of
the mosque. The Düsseldorf Prosecutor's Office, coordinating the
investigation, announced a reward of 1,500 euros in order to identify
the offenders and shed light on the incident.
According to 2013 statistics, 62,521 people (30,730 male and 30,791
female) live in Dormagen. It is quite a small town. And the total
number of foreigners living in Dormagen is 6,623. In Dormagen, which
has 25 churches including 14 Catholic, nine Protestant and two other
churches, there are only four mosques, and one of them is under
construction. Seemingly these mosques have annoyed someone.
The investigation launched after the Dec. 21 attack in Dormagen
seemingly could not yield tangible results. Roughly two weeks later,
the skinheads of Dormagen made their second move.
Dormagen is only one instance. If racists and neo-Nazis could
comfortably act in a small town like Dormagen, then what is the
general picture in Germany overall, whose population is 82 million?
Muslims living Germany are rightfully anxious. Between August and
December 2014, a total of 15 attacks were organized in Germany, 11 of
them targeting mosques.
Turkish-origin Muslims in Germany still anxiously read the writing on
the backs of members of the neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist
Underground (NSU), which is notorious for the murders publicly known
as "döner killings," which are not yet solved.
The situation is also grave in other parts of the EU. According to the
latest report by the Turkish Parliament's Human Rights Commission, "in
2014, 38 attacks were organized in Germany, eight attacks were made in
Austria, seven in Bulgaria, two in Belgium, Netherlands and Swede, and
one in France."
Racism and xenophobia in Europe have evolved into Islamophobia in recent years.
Formerly, racists and neo-Nazis used to write "Turks, get out!" and
now they are writing slogans such as "down with Islam" or "get out,
Muslims!"
Calling innocent Muslims peacefully living in EU countries to account
for the deeds of the terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq
and al-Sham (ISIS), is the greatest harm that could be done to them.
But unfortunately, this is the current case.
As PEGIDA emerged in Dresden, the assaults against Muslims and mosques
have increased in Germany.
All EU countries, particularly Germany, should not keep their heads in
the sand, but must realise the level Islamophobia has reached. Not
acknowledging racism will not make it go away.
Not only the EU Commission and the European Parliament, but also the
governments and parliaments of all EU member countries must decide on
urgent measures and immediately implement them.
The counter-protests staged by thousands of people against PEGIDA and
racism raise hopes. However, an increase in effective police measures
is critical. Just like the ongoing determined fight against ISIS, a
determined fight is also required against the racist terrorists and
their proponents who adopt violence as a fighting technique.
Jan 6 2015
Racism in Germany has reached a desperate level
OZAN CEYHUN @ozanceyhun
Published19 hours ago
When taking into consideration the question of racism in Germany, I
think it should not be compared with racist parties or movements in
other countries such as Golden Dawn in Greece and the National Front
Party in France.
There is a saying in German: "Bevor wir andere kritisieren, sollten
wir erst einmal vor der eigenen Tür kehren," which translates as, "We
should first clean our own doorway before criticizing others." And
Germany urgently needs to take its own advice.
Now, when certain groups with close relations with the Armenian
diaspora, and groups who are against Turkey in Germany were preparing
to stage demonstrations against Turkey in May, Prime Minister Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu met the representatives of the non-Muslim minority
communities at a lunch in Istanbul. Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch
Bartholomew, Deputy Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church Peter
Stefanos, Vicar-General of the Chaldean Catholic community of Turkey
Francois Yakan, Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church Yusuf
Çetin, Turkish ambassador to the Vatican Mehmet Paçacı, Patriarchal
Vicar of the Syrian Catholic Church in Turkey Yusuf SaÄ?, Apostolic
Administrator of the Armenian Catholic Archbishop Levan Zekiyan, Chief
Rabbi Ä°shak Haleva and Archbishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Aram AteÅ?yan attended.
During the meeting, it was decided to construct a new church in
Istanbul's YeÅ?ilköy neighborhood, and a fact that some circles in the
EU insist on ignoring was once again underlined ` non-Muslims living
in Turkey are content with the new Turkey.
However, Muslims living in Germany are anxious.
The members of a new German "intellectual," racist organization, the
Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident (PEGIDA),
gather every Monday and march against Islam. And they have recently
drawn swastikas and written racist slogans such as "down with Islam,"
"Turks will be killed" and "swine Turks" on the walls of Burg Primary
School, Leibniz High School and other buildings located in
Schüztenplatz Square in the town of Dormagen, which is 593 kilometers
from Dresden where almost no Muslims live.
This is not the first ugly attack in Dormagen. On Dec. 21, 2014, at
around 4:20 a.m., the Dormagen Ditib Mosque was the target of a racist
attack. The Police launched an investigation into the attack, in which
racist and hateful words were written on the walls and the minaret of
the mosque. The Düsseldorf Prosecutor's Office, coordinating the
investigation, announced a reward of 1,500 euros in order to identify
the offenders and shed light on the incident.
According to 2013 statistics, 62,521 people (30,730 male and 30,791
female) live in Dormagen. It is quite a small town. And the total
number of foreigners living in Dormagen is 6,623. In Dormagen, which
has 25 churches including 14 Catholic, nine Protestant and two other
churches, there are only four mosques, and one of them is under
construction. Seemingly these mosques have annoyed someone.
The investigation launched after the Dec. 21 attack in Dormagen
seemingly could not yield tangible results. Roughly two weeks later,
the skinheads of Dormagen made their second move.
Dormagen is only one instance. If racists and neo-Nazis could
comfortably act in a small town like Dormagen, then what is the
general picture in Germany overall, whose population is 82 million?
Muslims living Germany are rightfully anxious. Between August and
December 2014, a total of 15 attacks were organized in Germany, 11 of
them targeting mosques.
Turkish-origin Muslims in Germany still anxiously read the writing on
the backs of members of the neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist
Underground (NSU), which is notorious for the murders publicly known
as "döner killings," which are not yet solved.
The situation is also grave in other parts of the EU. According to the
latest report by the Turkish Parliament's Human Rights Commission, "in
2014, 38 attacks were organized in Germany, eight attacks were made in
Austria, seven in Bulgaria, two in Belgium, Netherlands and Swede, and
one in France."
Racism and xenophobia in Europe have evolved into Islamophobia in recent years.
Formerly, racists and neo-Nazis used to write "Turks, get out!" and
now they are writing slogans such as "down with Islam" or "get out,
Muslims!"
Calling innocent Muslims peacefully living in EU countries to account
for the deeds of the terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq
and al-Sham (ISIS), is the greatest harm that could be done to them.
But unfortunately, this is the current case.
As PEGIDA emerged in Dresden, the assaults against Muslims and mosques
have increased in Germany.
All EU countries, particularly Germany, should not keep their heads in
the sand, but must realise the level Islamophobia has reached. Not
acknowledging racism will not make it go away.
Not only the EU Commission and the European Parliament, but also the
governments and parliaments of all EU member countries must decide on
urgent measures and immediately implement them.
The counter-protests staged by thousands of people against PEGIDA and
racism raise hopes. However, an increase in effective police measures
is critical. Just like the ongoing determined fight against ISIS, a
determined fight is also required against the racist terrorists and
their proponents who adopt violence as a fighting technique.