Turkish Center in Germany Has High Hopes For Islam Summit

The discussion on Islamic terrorism in the past several years has raised interest in Islam, said Faruk Sen, director of the Center for Turkish Studies in Essen, but attention has been limited to security matters, even though the overwhelming majority of Germany's 3.5 million Muslims have nothing to do with terrorism.

"As a society, we should start giving Islam political and social recognition," said Sen. "Muslims make up the second largest religious group after Christianity and they should be just as accepted in Germany as the Jewish community and be considered a component of the religious infrastructure here."

Muslim community divided

An impediment to dialogue is the absence of a political spokesperson for the larger Muslim community. Sen said he would like to see an Islamic council founded in Germany, based on the French example. It should consist of 20 to 25 representatives and serve as a kind of umbrella organization, he added.

But with 2,300 different mosque associations in Germany alone, establishing a common council won't be an easy task.

Three major umbrella organizations -- the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, the Islamic Council for the Republic of Germany and the DITIB, an organization for mosques in Germany controlled by the secular Turkish state -- do already exist. Experts say, however, that they only speak for a small number of Muslims and that the groups have no plans to merge.

Expectations of Germany and the Muslim community

In addition to receiving political, social and legal recognition, Muslim organizations should be financially supported by the government, said Sen. The construction of a mosque in Duisburg, sponsored in part by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is an indication that this is already happening is some places.

Another of Sen's wishes is the integration of Islam in schools' religion curriculum.

"If we want to reduce the influence of the various Quran schools, we should include lessons on Islam in German schools -- which now have nearly 900,000 Muslim children," said Sen.

As for the Muslim community, the director of the Turkish center said he would like to see greater efforts toward social integration as well as equal treatment of men and women.

Countdown to the Islam Summit

Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble has invited representatives of the Muslim community in Germany to attend an Islam summit in late September.

Its aim is to make progress toward constructive co-existence between Muslims and Christians in Germany, but the conference has already taken heat from the Muslim community. Ali Kizilkaya, chairmen of the Islamic Council, said in a ZDF television broadcast that he had not been invited and criticized the general invitation process for the event.

Sen sees the summit as a positive first step.

"I assume that all the Muslim groups will be invited, that all of them will participate in discussions and that their suggestions will be accepted," said Sen. "The Islam Summit is a good start to recognizing the 3.5 million Muslims as discussion partners."