By IINA,
Cologne : German politicians have condemned a new attack on Central Mosque in Cologne, the third since Sunday, describing it as an attack on ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’, Anadolu Agency reported.
This is “shocking attack on democracy and freedom,” Greens Party MP and party’s Interior Policy Spokesman Volker Beck said. “The one who torches worship places would not hesitate to kill people,” he added. According to a statement by Religious Affairs Turkish Islamic Association, the attack occurred when the assailant slammed a car into the door of the central mosque. He tried also to torch it throwing combustible material at the door of the conference hall of the mosque.
Condemning the attacks, the association commented that damage was inflicted to the building but their sole consolation was that there was no resulting loss of life. The association expressed gratitude to eyewitnesses and Cologne-Ehrenfeld police who have apprehended a suspect within a short period of time. The statement said that mosques in Hurth and Wesseling were also attacked on Sunday. Germany has Europe’s second-biggest Muslim population after France, and Islam comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity. It has between 3.8 and 4.3 million Muslims, making up some 5 percent of the total 82 million population, according to government-commissioned studies.
Beck, the Greens Party MP, expressed solidarity with Islam and Muslims against increasing attacks. “Solidarity must be observed within the Religious Affairs Turkish Islamic Association regardless of political and religious differences,” he said. “All democrats should stand against this provocative attack on Islam. “Muslims in Germany should know that we are with them to defend religious freedom,” he added. The attacks are not the first to target mosques in Germany.
Germans have grown hostile to the Muslim presence recently, with a heated debate on the Muslim immigration into the country. A recent study in November, 2012, showed that right-wing extremism is notably rising in Germany, particularly in the east of the European country. The study, “The Changing Society: Right-wing Views in Germany 2012”, found that the number of Germans identifying themselves has grown. The report indicated that 9 percent of Germans have adopted extreme right-wing beliefs, up from 8.2 percent two years ago.
A recent poll by the Munster University found that Germans view Muslims more negatively than their European neighbours. According to a 2010 nationwide poll by the research institute Infratest-dimap, more than one third of the respondents would prefer “a Germany without Islam.”