(VRT) In Ghent, 22 people were detained on Wednesday night after a Kurdish business in the city was vandalised. Half of those held are minors and police found a number of weapons. The incident follows clashes in recent days between people from […]
(AFP) Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for calm on Wednesday after escalating tensions between Turkish and Kurdish groups in the country just days before local elections in Turkey. “We are asking everyone to calm down, stop the provocations and continue […]
(Swiss Info) A Swiss court has fined four people over a banner used during a 2017 protest in Bern against the Turkish government that showed a gun pointed at an image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next to the words, “Kill […]
(AFP) A group of Germans with Turkish roots have formed a political group to contest the European elections, sparking fears it could be a vehicle for Turkey’s president to expand his influence in the EU. Since its founding late last year, the […]
(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s newly founded “Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening” (DAVA) is currently a voters’ association, but it intends to run as a party in the European elections on June 9. This announcement in January triggered a heated debate in Germany, […]
(Turkish Minute) Two executives from a Turkish-Islamist political association in Germany that is in the process of establishing a party named Demokratische Allianz für Vielfalt und Aufbruch (Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening, or DAVA) have denied claims that the new party […]
(Euractiv) The Turkish AKP party of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will run in the European elections in Germany, according to media reports, with high-ranking German politicians noting it will expand Turkish influence in the EU. The AKP affiliate in Germany, the Democratic […]
(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 […]
(European Conservative) New German citizenship laws that expand voting rights to up to 2.5 million recent migrants are unnerving even the usually complacent CDU, with one conservative lawmaker airing fears that the new arrangement could enable a potential Islamist bloc to attain […]
(Local) Russian intelligence last year suggested staging Quran burnings, as well as mounting protests and spraying graffiti insulting Turkey’s president, as a way of delaying Turkey’s ratification [of] Sweden’s Nato bid, a Finnish documentary has claimed. The documentary cites the Dossier Center, […]
(Yle) Russia made plans to disrupt Finland and Sweden’s accession to joining Nato, according to a secret intelligence report obtained by an Yle MOT investigation. The report found that a Russian intelligence service planned to organise disruption campaigns disguised as demonstrations before […]
(Algemeiner) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit to Germany on Friday was shrouded in tension over his constant attacks upon the State of Israel along with renewed interest in the German press concerning the activities of Turkish lobby groups in the […]
(Deutsche Welle) Twenty-four Muslims from across Germany formally passed their imam training at the country’s new Islamkolleg Deutschland in the northwestern city of Osnabrück on Saturday. The graduates, who included men and women, received their first certificate of completion after attending a two-year part-time course. […]
(Politico) Athens wants to expand a migration deal with Turkey, Greek Interior Minister Dimitrios Kairidis said. The European Union reached the contentious agreement with Turkey at the peak of the migration crisis in March 2016. It foresaw that all undocumented migrants arriving […]
(European Conservative) A Swedish man faces trial this week on charges of incitement to racial hatred for the burning of a copy of the Islamic Quran in what could become a precedent-setting case, as prosecutors have been reluctant to pursue charges against […]
(AP) A Swedish appeals court on Wednesday upheld a 4 1/2-year prison sentence for a Turkish man who was found guilty of attempted extortion, weapons possession and attempted terrorist financing, saying he was acting on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party. […]
(AFP) Muslim leaders addressing the United Nations on Tuesday berated the West over burnings of the Koran, denouncing the acts protected as free speech as discriminatory. Sweden has seen a series of burnings of the Islamic holy book, with the government voicing […]
(Anadolu) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that attacks on the Quran cannot be “defended with the excuse of freedom of expression” and that such acts “target social peace and stability” during talks with a delegation from the US Council of […]
(Prague Monitor) Sweden’s prospective entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is uncertain due to concerns arising from incidents of Quran burning, as highlighted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his return from Hungary. Erdogan’s remarks underscore a potential hurdle […]
(Deutsche Welle) “Living in fear and uncertainty every day, expecting the police to come back and snatch us from our beds, take us to the station and torture us … we couldn’t stand it anymore. After the death of my father, we […]
(GB News) A group of British imams has met with Taliban ministers during a visit to Afghanistan supporting a charity that was previously investigated for links to jihadists, GB News can reveal. An NHS Muslim chaplain who supports patients in South London […]
(Politico) Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen spoke out for the first time on the burning of the Quran in her country, saying that a potential ban on setting fire to the religious text would not limit freedom of expression. “I don’t consider […]
(Reuters) There is limited political will in Sweden to ban Koran burnings that have upset large parts of the Muslim world and it would be complicated to do even if there were backing for such a move, experts and politicians said on […]
(Kathimerini) Greek officials said Friday that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis never discussed issues that concern Greek citizens or the country’s sovereign rights with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The officials were responding to claims by Erdogan that the “problems of Western Thrace” […]
(Kathimerini) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that the “problems of Western Thrace” was the “main issue” he raised with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at their meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday. “We want to […]
(Reuters) Greece should not be burdened with the task of managing migration for the European Union, or be accused of not saving people at sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday, a month after a deadly shipwreck. The Greek coast guard […]
(Reuters) The Swedish government is examining whether it could change the law to stop people setting the Koran on fire in public, as recent burnings of the Muslim holy book have damaged Sweden’s security, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Aftonbladet paper on […]
(AFP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday blamed France’s nationwide riots on “institutional racism” and the country’s colonial past. The French government has been battling riots and looting in Paris and across the country since 17-year-old Nahel M. — a French […]
(AFP) Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday distanced himself from this week’s protest at which a Koran was burned outside a Stockholm mosque, which sparked outrage in parts of the Muslim world. “It is difficult to say what the consequences will […]
(AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday condemned a Quran-burning protest in Sweden, signaling that this would pose another obstacle to the country’s bid for NATO membership. Speaking to members of his Justice and Development Party, Erdogan equated “those who permitted […]
(Al-Arabiya) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Sweden had to stop protests by supporters of the Ankara-criminalized Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Stockholm if it wanted Turkey to approve its NATO membership. “Turkey maintains its constructive […]
(Turkish Minute) The Republic of Turkey was one of five main countries actively engaged in espionage activities in Germany in 2022, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported on Tuesday, citing a report by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). […]
(AFP) A Swedish appeals court on Monday said police had no legal grounds to block two gatherings where protesters had planned to burn the Koran earlier this year. The burning of Islam’s holy book outside Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm in January sparked […]
(AP) Greek officials have launched a series of high-level contacts with the newly elected government in Turkey in an effort to counter a surge in attempted crossings by migrants over a river that divides the two countries. Defense Minister Alkiviades Stephanis spoke […]
(Turkish Minute) Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, a dual Turkish-Belgian citizen who in 2009 became the first headscarf-wearing lawmaker in a Belgian parliamentary assembly, was appointed a minister in a new cabinet announced by the Turkish president over the weekend. Özdemir is the only […]
(AFP) Hundreds of people protested in Stockholm on Sunday against new anti-terror legislation that was passed to address Turkey’s opposition to Sweden joining NATO. The demonstration was organised by groups close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), outlawed by Turkey, which this […]
(AFP) A Stockholm demonstration against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden’s planned NATO membership has been given the go-ahead for this weekend despite Ankara’s objections, Swedish police told AFP on Friday. “We are going to ensure that all those present on […]
(Local) Turkish officials are demanding that Sweden’s new terror law be applied to an anti-Nato demonstration this coming weekend. What does the law cover, and can it be used to stop a protest? Turkey wants Sweden to stop the demonstration on June […]
(AFP) Strong backing for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan among Turks in Germany in last weekend’s historic election has sparked renewed soul-searching about whether Berlin’s attempts to integrate the minority are failing. There were scenes of jubilation in some German cities after Erdogan […]
(Breitbart) German politicians have been left fearing the consequences of diversity after migrant parades [celebrating] the re-election of Turkey’s Islamist president took place in the country. Numerous elected officials within Germany have expressed concern at the parades, which celebrated the victory of […]
(Daily Sabah) Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for his anti-migrant and Islamophobic stance, urged Turks living in the Netherlands who voted for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to leave the country after Sunday’s elections. “I hope that all Turks in the Netherlands […]
(Anadolu) At a major Muslim American gathering, the Muslim community in the US congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his historic reelection to the nation’s presidency. Hasan Murat Mercan, Ankara’s ambassador to Washington, was invited to the stage on Sunday at […]
(Christian Science Monitor) Cenk Auth is a Berlin hairstylist with Turkish flair and a German passport. Born in Germany to Turkish German parents, Mr. Auth is part of a Turkish diaspora spread across Europe that keenly feels the tug of two places. […]
(AFP) “I voted for Erdogan because he deserves to be re-elected,” says Esra Kose, 45, who like the majority of Turkish voters in Germany backs the incumbent president. Kose, who has lived for nearly two decades in Europe’s top economy and wears […]
(Politico) Greek voters will decide Sunday whether to harden the country’s line on migration by extending a border wall with Turkey, or elect the left-wing opposition Syriza party which has adopted a softer stance on the issue. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has […]
(National-UAE) The Turkish diaspora in Europe gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a boost in his tight re-election race, preliminary results showed on Monday. In Germany, where the Turkish community of three million is the largest abroad, Mr Erdogan was ahead with 65 […]
(AFP) Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Germany have been trying to intimidate voters ahead of the country’s crunch election, politicians and voters said on Tuesday. In Berlin’s Neukoelln district, a local chapter of the opposition CHP party has been […]
(AFP) Swedish police said Thursday they had appealed a court ruling which overturned a police decision to block two gatherings where protesters had planned to burn the Koran. “The Police Authority believes that the principles of the issue are important and it […]
(France 24) The timing couldn’t have been worse. Turkey had already threatened to derail Sweden’s NATO aspirations when a far-right extremist set fire to a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. On Friday, Ankara issued its verdict on Sweden and Finland’s […]
(JNS) Accusations of Islamophobia came almost immediately after the U.S. House of Representatives voted earlier this month to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from its Foreign Affairs Committee. The vote followed repeated promises from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to remove the […]
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