On Friday, France was unfortunately plunged into chaos. The two terrorists who killed 12 people from a satirical magazine managed to run around Paris freely for two days and ended up taking hostages in a printing house. In a related but separate incident, two more terrorists, who killed a policewoman in Paris on Thursday, were back in action on Friday raiding a Jewish store and killing at least two people and also taking hostages. An absolute mess for the French administration, and probably a major fiasco. So where were the French police and the notorious French intelligence apparatus while all this was going on?
It seems the French should stop messing around with Middle Eastern politics and concentrate on getting their own house in order. The French people will not get far by bolstering the Far Right movement, but instead should be more attentive to the rising problems of its Muslim minority.
In Germany, a group claiming to be spearheading the movement to "prevent the Islamization of Europe," which in fact is an extremist group with a touch of racism, is gaining support with a public opinion poll showing that 57 percent of the Germans surveyed see Islam as a threat.
In Austria, the government is preparing a law that will put limitations on Islam. Austria recognized Islam 100 years ago and now it is dramatically trying to turn back the clock.
All in all, there is an anti-Islam campaign that has turned into a hate campaign, which is alienating the 30 million Muslims living in Europe and creating extremists out of the young Muslims.
The Europeans have the Erdoğan model that they can rediscover in view of the current chaotic events. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has managed to mingle devout Muslims and their values with democracy, and has created a brand new model in Turkey that has worked with Turkey successfully going through several democratic elections. Turkey's electoral participation rate and its representation is much better than many Western democracies.
Chancellor Angela Merkel should listen to her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoğlu when the Prime Minister meets her this weekend. The Turkish model offers a way out for Europe in view of the rising tide of racism and anti-Islamic sentiments triggered by Islamophobia. With Davutoğlu's academic talents and qualifications, the German chancellor could find a good partner that will help Europe out of the current mess.
On Sunday, Professor Mehmet Görmez, the head of Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB), will be visiting Austria to tell the Viennese government they are making a huge mistake by trying to put curbs on Muslims. The new law proposed against Islam stipulates sending the imam's of Turkey's Religious Affairs back home and replacing them with local imams. That is a very dangerous development. The Austrians seem to miss the fact that the well-qualified imams of Turkey sent by the DİB are actually the people who are teaching the true and accurate face of Islam to the masses throughout Europe. Without them Muslim youths would be in the hands of extremists imams of al-Qaida and ISIS, as is the case in some places in Europe today. Hence the events in France.
Turkey is the right medicine for many of Europe's woes. It is time some people recognized this and took up Turkey's hand of friendship instead of trying to plays games against Erdoğan.
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