(Brussels Times) Flemish Minister for Employment Zuhal Demir has accused Turkey of abusing visa-free green passports to send pro-Erdogan imams to Belgium to influence third- and fourth-generation Flemish Turks. She has urged Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot to launch an investigation, according […]
(Algemeiner) Amid a rising wave of anti-Jewish hate crimes, the German government is pressing the country’s main mosque association over its close ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging it to publicly distance itself from his antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. According […]
(European Conservative) The recent call by the German Association for Education and Training (VBE) to establish comprehensive Islamic religious education in schools across the country has reignited the debate on institutionalised Islamisation in Europe. Gerhard Brand, the VBE’s federal president, urged political […]
(JNS) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent more than $25 million to extremist groups with ties to Islamist terror groups between 2013 and 2023, according to a new report from the Middle East Forum. Gregg Roman, executive director of the think […]
(Brussels Times) Opposition party Vlaams Belang has criticised Interior Minister Hilde Crevits’s decision to recognise 17 additional mosques. Although party leader Chris Janssens commends the minister for not recognising any mosques from Diyanet or Milli Görüş, he believes that giving a positive […]
(Brussels Times) Flemish Minister of the Interior Hilde Crevits (CD&V) has not approved any recognition requests from Diyanet mosques, a decision welcomed by Flemish MP Nadia Sminate (N-VA), who advocates for a comprehensive review of already recognised mosques. Minister Crevits reviewed 58 […]
(Yabiladi) [The] Muslim Executive of Belgium (EMB) has urged the minister of justice, Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), not to grant permanent recognition to the Muslim Council of Belgium (CMB), whose temporary two-year accreditation is set to expire in June. In a statement received […]
(Yabiladi) The Muslim Council of Belgium (CMB) has formally requested permanent recognition from the federal minister of justice, Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), following a two-year temporary approval set to expire next June. The council was established in 2023 after former Minister of Justice […]
(European Conservative) Fifty years after Turkey’s invasion and occupation of 36% of Cyprus, the systematic Islamization of the island’s northern part has become increasingly evident. This transformation is not incidental but a calculated initiative by Ankara, aligning with its broader neo-Ottoman ambitions. […]
(Brussels Times) Five imams have seen their work permits being withdrawn after it was uncovered that the Turkish government was funding them. They risk being evicted if they are not employed by the end of this year. The Flemish region’s Employment Minister […]
(Deutsche Welle) Osman Soyer is a religious affairs officer who was sworn into office this month in the Sehitlik Mosque in Berlin’s Neukölln district. He is one of 28 young men and women who have been trained as “religious representatives” by DITIB, […]
(European Conservative) A top Christian Democrat politician wants to amend the constitution if necessary, so that German taxes can be used to pay for mosques. Jens Spahn — a former minister and deputy leader of the opposition center-right CDU/CSU’s parliamentary group — […]
(Reuters) Germany has agreed with Turkey to phase out a controversial programme that posts Turkish imams to German mosques, the interior ministry in Berlin announced on Thursday, saying that the move would boost the integration of Muslims in Germany. Some 100 imams […]
(Brussels Times) Several Islamic institutions that are signatories and members of the Coordination Council of Islamic Institutions in Belgium (CIB) are to launch several petitions for annulment of the education programme on relational, affective and sexual life (EVRAS) with the Constitutional Court, […]
(Brussels Times) The Constitutional Court on [Wednesday?] annulled several provisions of a Flemish decree banning local religious communities from receiving funding or support from abroad, a measure aimed primarily at mosques. The decree of 22 October 2021 regulating the recognition of local […]
(Anadolu) The Muslim community in Belgium contested new sexual education methods in schools on Wednesday, according to a statement. “This decision seems to confront the universal and inviolable values of the familial education framework, and the interests of the students and their […]
(Anadolu) Belgium’s top court has issued a decision opening the way for Muslim imams in the country’s Flemish region to get salaries from abroad and similar arrangements. In October 2021, a decree was issued in the Flemish region prohibiting direct or indirect […]
(Brussels Times) A new representative body for Islam in Belgium has been created, with the Muslim Council of Belgium set to come into force this week to replace the scandal-hit Executive of the Muslims of Belgium (EMB). Belgium’s Justice Minister Vincent Van […]
(Brussels Times) Twelve recognised Diyanet mosques in Flanders, associated with the Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs, must remain free of influence from Turkey if they wish to maintain their recognition, announced Flemish Minister for Coexistence Bart Somers. After a year-long stop in […]
(Kathimerini) Despite repeatedly criticizing Greece for appointing the Muslim community’s muftis in the region of Thrace, Turkey also appoints its own muftis at a central level, via a state agency, Greek diplomatic sources pointed out on Tuesday, highlighting “the hypocrisy of Turkey’s […]
(Brussels Times) Justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has ordered the civilian intelligence service to investigate the affairs of the Muslim Executive, the body that represents the country’s Muslims. Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) revealed his plans on last night’s broadcast of the investigative […]
(AFP) Germany has launched a state-backed training centre for imams to help reduce the number of Islamic leaders coming in from abroad, but the initiative has been shunned by leading Turkish groups. Around 40 aspiring religious leaders attended their first classes at […]
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(Pink News) Belgian immigration authorities will deport a Turkish imam for saying on social media that being gay is an “illness” that causes “decay.” The imam led worship at the Green Mosque in Houthalen-Helchteren, Linburg, according to BBC Türkçe. When asked by the […]
(Brussels Times) Flemish minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) has said she is “relieved” at the arrest of a young man accused of sending her hate mail. The man, aged 24 and living in Demir’s home town of Genk in Limburg province, has admitted […]
(Brussels Times) The Limburg prosecutor’s office has begun an investigation into an alleged email threat made against Flemish mobility minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA). The threat came in an email addressed to Demir following recent comments she made in relation to mosques connected […]
(Deutsche Welle) The latest spate of terror attacks in France and Austria will not hamper the cooperation between the government and Germany’s Muslim community, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday. “We won’t let terrorism and extremism derail us,” Seehofer said at […]
(Dutch News) Many mosques in the Netherlands are being funded by foreign organisations seeking to promote a hardline, anti-democratic version of Islam, a committee of MPs has warned. The committee, headed by CDA MP Michel Rog, voiced concern about the influence of […]
(Brussels Times) Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will send around forty new imams to Belgium in 2020, a lot more than in previous years. They are being sent in response to the shortage being faced by many Turkish mosques, Het Laatste Nieuws […]
(Middle East Monitor) Renowned British singer Yusuf Islam last week invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend the opening ceremony of the Cambridge Mosque next month. The invitation came during a meeting between the two men in Istanbul, the Anadolu Agency […]
(Ahval) The former chief of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said Turkish imams with the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), one of Germany’s largest Islamic organisations, are working for Turkish intelligence. “They were known to be engaged […]
(Anadolu) Islam is a religion of peace that defends universal values, Ali Erbas, the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, said on Wednesday. “Islam is a religion of peace that defends and tries to keep the same universal values alive all over […]
(Deutsche Welle) The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) is the largest umbrella organization of mosques in Germany. DITIB manages about 900 mosques in the country, including the central mosque in Cologne, and has about 800,000 members throughout Germany. Its ties to […]
(Fox) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent re-election is fueling concerns about his growing powers not just in Turkey but here in the U.S., according to experts who believe he’s determined to spread his controversial brand of Islamist-nationalistic fervor through a network […]
(IPT) Two Washington, D.C.-area mosques hosted programs last weekend calling for the release of celebrity Islamist Tariq Ramadan, who has been in a French jail since February on rape charges. He is the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna. Rallies at […]
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