August 8 The president of the Federal Republic of Germany Joachim Gauck congratulated Muslims for the end of the Ramadan Month and the celebration of (Id-al Fitr). He stressed the need for constructive cooperation and trust building between Muslims and non-Muslims. Also Nicolaus Schneider, the chair of the Evangelical church in Germany and…
March 9 Federal President Joachim Gauck has met young Muslim immigrants prior to the annual young Islam conference. During the conference, young Muslims are given the opportunity to show their societal engagement and discuss political and social issues with politicians and local experts. Albeit, most participants expressed their satisfaction about the event, some…
November 26 Federal President Joachim Gauck has refused to meet bereaved family members of the victims murdered by the right-wing terrorist group NSU (National Socialist Underground). The Turkish community had welcomed a meeting but the Office of the Federal President refused it. Kenan Kolat, representative of the Turkish community criticized the reaction of…
June 2 Muslim associations such as the Central council for Muslims in Germany and the Council for Coordination for Muslims in Germany (KRM) have criticized the comments of German Federal president Joachim Gauck about Muslim and the belonging of Islam to Germany. President Gauck took repeatedly distance from the declaration of his predecessor Christian…
The interviews and speeches given by Germany’s new president, Joachim Gauck, show that he is putting a clear distance between himself and Islam. But as German president, his job is not to polarise, but to differentiate. In this essay, Jan Kuhlmann argues that he should reach out more to conservative Muslims in particular
