European Centrist Parties Adapted Far Right Discourse: Turkish Committee

A Turkish Parliamentary Committee has been conducting a field study in Germany about the Islamophobia problem in the western countries. The delegation completed its work and held a press conference at the Turkish Consulate General in Cologne. The head of the delegation and a member of the Turkish Parliament said one of the main reasons of Islamophobia in Europe and mainly in Germany was adaption of Islamophobic discourse of the far-right parties like AFD by centrist parties to gain electoral ground.

Members of the Islamophobia Research Committee in the Western Countries are holding a press conference at the Turkish Counsel General in Cologne

The delegation has met with many important figures of the Turkish society from all political and social spectrum to figure out possible steps needed to be taken to eliminate Islamophobia.

The head of the delegation, Omer Serdar said the discourse that belonged to far-right parties like Germany’s AFD, was adapted by main stream parties to gain political ground which feeds Xenophobia and Islamophobia. Serdar pointed out that the main task of the committee is to look into reasons and provide solutions. “Solution for Islamophobia will serve the peace of the whole world,” Serdar continued.

Sema Ramazanoglu, a member of the committee and the former Family Minister of Turkey, also stressed that the women with headscarves are the biggest victims of Islamophobia because the headscarf reflects their identity and make them easy targets. She also also narrated a first-hand story about a mother and a daughter being attacked in Germany. “When the police arrived at the scene following the attack, the mother was told by the police that the attackers were incited by her headscarf,” said Ramazanoglu. Researches also reveal that Islamophobia is more institutionalized than ever in Germany and Turks are the biggest victims as they make up the most populous ethnic minority in the country.

Former Turkish Family Minister says women with headscarves are the biggest victims of Islamophobia

Turkish Parliamentary Committee to prepare a report after it completes studies in France and Belgium as well. The report then to be shared by the relevant institutions of the EU and other Muslim countries.