By Meltem Bulur
(AA): A mosque in the northwestern city of Gladbeck was vandalized Sunday night. The attackers wrote racist slogans and drew swastikas on the windows and walls of the mosque.
A statement from the Turkish Consul General of the city of Munster expressed concern over the recent rise in attacks on Turkish mosques by “racist and Islamophobic groups”.
The attackers wrote racist slogans and drew swastikas on the windows and walls of the mosque, which is run by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB).
“Such crimes can be prevented if the perpetrators are caught,” Nadir Kahraman said Sunday at a Turkish-run mosque in Germany’s Gladbeck, hours after a swastika and racist messages were graffitied on its walls.
Kahraman, head of the DİTİB’s Gladbeck branch, condemned the attack and urged the police to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“Other mosques have suffered many similar attacks, but no suspects were arrested. We believe that the arrest of perpetrators would help prevent similar crimes in the future,” he told state-run Anadolu Agency.
The attack on Sunday night comes a day after the DİTİB hosted an inauguration ceremony for a large mosque in Germany’s Cologne, attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and amid German politicians’ criticism of the DİTİB for its links to Turkey.
The DITIB, a moderate Muslim organization founded by Turkish migrants in Germany, runs more than 900 mosques across the country.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry is calling on German authorities to bring suspected Neo-Nazis to justice for vandalizing a mosque in Gladbeck city.
“We await for the authorities of the city of Gladbeck to locate the perpetrators of the attack and conduct the necessary legal actions. Worse future incidents will be prevented by bringing the perpetrators to justice,” the ministry said Monday in a statement on its website.
Germany, a country of over 81 million people, has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe, after France. Among the country’s nearly 4.7 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish origin.
Germany, a country of over 81 million people, has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. Among the country’s nearly 4.7 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish origin.
In recent years, the country has seen growing Islamophobia and hatred of migrants triggered by propaganda from far-right and populist parties.
[Archive photo: Mosque in Frieberg vandalised with Nazi- Swastikas. Photograph: AA]
