First Minaret in Saarland

18.02.2012 The Turkish Muslim community in the city of Volklingen celebrated the completion of the first minaret in the federal state of Saarland last week. The plans to build a minaret on top of the Selimiye Mosque, a former cinema, had divided Volklingen’s population last year. While the argument was reminiscent of the ban of…

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Dutch Political Party Aims to Ban Minarets

The Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), known for its anti-islam, anti-immigrant platform, is calling for a referendum on the presence of minarets in the Netherlands. According to the party minarets symbolize the domination of Christianity by Islam.  

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Wilders Calls for Minaret Ban in Netherlands

21 September 2011 Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) are calling for a referendum against the construction of new minarets in the Netherlands. The politician, stating that ‘Minarets… are the towers of a rising desert ideology’, announced that he will submit draft legislation to parliament to move towards a public vote on the matter.

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More Debate About Cologne’s New Central Mosque

27.07.2011 A few months before completion of Cologne’s new central mosque early 2012, the public debate about the building continues, now focusing more on its architecture and location rather than political or social issues. In previous years, critics of the mosque, such as the right-wing group Pro Köln (Pro Cologne), had campaigned to stop the…

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“We’re not planning an Islam-Center”

8 February 2011 An Albanian Muslim association has recently bought a plot of land in Hollabrunn, in the Weinviertel northeast of Vienna, raising speculation that they may build a mosque. However, according to the head of the association Zeadin Mustafi and his wife Nadire Mustafi, they not are planning a building with a dome and…

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