Germany’s major Islamic associations are in the midst of an upheaval – a development exemplified by the DİTİB organisation. A subsidiary of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), DİTİB is the largest of a bewildering array of Islamic associations operating in Germany, running 950 of the country’s roughly 2,600 mosques.1 The organisation has, however,…
The death of a 15-year-old girl, stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend in a drugstore in the German town of Kandel, has not only sparked a public outcry but also become a case of high political salience – because the suspected killer was an Afghan refugee. The case The girl’s death occurred on December 27,…
November 26 Muslim associations in Lower Saxony have criticized Minster of Interior Uwe Schünemann (CDU) for defining Muslims as a marginal group. The associations did not accept to dialogue with the Ministry of Interior in July, after Minister Schünemann had refused to withdraw his “checklist” for the recognition of Islamists. Emine Oguz, a lawyer…
June 17 A new initiative of the Ministry of Interior of Lower Saxony raised concern among German Muslim associations. The Bremen and Lower Saxony branches of the Muslim associations Ditib and the Shura of Lower Saxony cancelled a scheduled meeting for Monday with the local Ministry of Interior Uwe Schünemann (CDU). The reason for such…
08./09.03.2012 Last week, Lower Saxony’s interior minister Uwe Schünemann presented his proposal for a de- radicalisation programme designed to prevent young Muslims from being lured into extremist groups. With his proposal, Schünemann continues his hardliner course on extremism and terrorism; in 2010, he had already proposed a plan to fight an increasing terror threat, which…
