Thousands gathered on the streets of Cologne on Monday to protest the growing anti-Islam demonstrations organized by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA). Many people from other cities took part in the counter-demonstrations to condemn the widespread hatred toward foreigners, directed most viciously at the Muslim community. The 12 major Turkish non-governmental organizations also attended the counter-demonstration, which took place in Cologne in order to show their considerable support to the Turkish-Muslim community.Anti-Muslim demonstrations in Germany have been indicative of the resurgence of far-right extremism that has sparked hatred towards the Muslim community. The head of the Turkish Islamic Union of Europe, İhsan Öner stated that these anti-Islam demonstrations have turned into violent attacks. "We do not know what will happen next. It has become something like they would kill Turkish people as [these demonstrations] turned into hatred toward Turkish people," he said while labeling the anti-Muslim demonstrations as "out of control." Öner said that the German media had depicted the demonstrations [organized by Pegida] as "innocent" because the German media "does not take this issue seriously." He also praised the German authorities who have taken affirmative action against the right-wing populist movement."We, as 3 million Turkish Muslims, have been living in Germany for the last 53 years. We have built an alliance with the other Turkish organizations in order not to remain silent at the recent protests...In addition to demonstrations in Cologne, we will maintain our support," the head of the Union of European Turkish Democrats, Süleyman Çelik, in a joint statement released before the protest in Cologne took place. They also called on all segments of German society to attend Monday protests in order to stop growing racism, xenophobia and hate crimes while condemning the recent mosque attacks.Counter-demonstrations against racism and xenophobia started at 17:30 GMT in Cologne, Germany. The protests organized by Kögida, another anti-Islam groups based in Cologne also took place. The far-right groups, like Pegid NRW, on Monday called on all Germans to give their support and display German flags on cars and apartments."The protests should take place with full security. Both sides should understand each other," said Feyza Yıldırım, the Berlin representative of Turkish-German solidarity and integration foundation. She also pointed out that "racism in Germany is not a brand new issue."Far-right anti-Muslim groups have recently become more prominent in Germany as the fear of others prevail in the country's political landscape. A weekly march in the eastern city of Dresden has attracted many Germans, and more than 15,000 people take to the streets in Dresden every Monday to protest the rising number of immigrants. The right-wing populist movement PEGIDA has drawn attention lately as it has drawn large support from far-right groups and ordinary citizens. The anti-Islam rallies have also spread across Germany. With many Germans supporting anti-Muslim rhetoric and anti-immigration policies, according to a poll, more people have started to consider Islam a threat to their society.In the face of the growing number of refugees and asylum seekers looking for shelter in Germany and the threat posed by the radical militant group the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), many Germans have been fueling anti-immigration sentiment. Germany is home to 4 million Muslims, in a total population of nearly 81 million. It has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France.