(Anadolu) A Turkish-Belgian politician on Friday decried the difficulties of living as a Muslim in Europe.
Being a Muslim in Europe is hard in terms of both religious belief and wearing a headscarf, Mahinur Ozdemir, 36, a Belgian-born Muslim parliamentarian, told a panel in Berlin.
“Being a Muslim in Europe is hard but being a Muslim in appearance is harder,” Ozdemir told the panel, organized by the Turkish think tank Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) in Berlin.
Ozdemir said that as a Muslim woman she has faced difficulties in employment and education as well as in practicing politics.
Ozdemir made history as the first headscarf-wearing lawmaker in both the Belgian parliament and in Europe, and in 2015 she was expelled from the Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) party for refusing to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide.
