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In the dispute with Macron over the Muhammad cartoons, the Turkish president presents himself as a defender of Muslims and evokes a new culture war with the West. That does not interest the Muslims of Europe.
Because French President Emmanuel Macron opposes radical Islamists, he is attacked in Muslim countries, like here at a demonstration in Istanbul.
Emmanuel Macron took this for granted when, following the brutal murder of teacher Samuel Paty by an Islamist, he emphasized that the French would not be deprived of their freedom to express opinions and draw cartoons. This was not an insult to Prophet Muhammad. Nor was it an attack on Islam when the French president announced that he would take stronger action against Islamist groups that refuse to integrate and question the authority of the state.
If the Turkish head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, declares that this is an affront to Muslims and calls on his compatriots to boycott French products, this is a transparent attempt to conjure a new culture war. The Turkish president lamented on Monday that it is becoming increasingly impossible for Muslims to live their religion in the West. Today, the treatment of Muslims in Europe is similar to that of Jews before World War II.
Sure, Muslims in Europe suffer from social exclusion and economic disadvantage. But there cannot be a question of state discrimination.
However, it is true that many of the Muslims in Europe suffer from exclusion and discrimination. In Germany, Turkish guest workers and their descendants are not too often accepted as full citizens. In France, many children and grandchildren of Muslim immigrants from the former Maghreb colonies still live in isolation on dilapidated banlieues, which has serious consequences for their educational and employment opportunities.
Nor can it be denied that Islamophobia exists in Europe. Much of what is presented as criticism of Islam is poorly disguised racism and hatred of foreigners. However, nothing would be more wrong than dismissing any criticism as an expression of Islamophobia. If certain mosques urge believers to distance themselves from the rest of society, if preachers even call for hatred and violence against “unbelievers”, this cannot be accepted.
By denying that there is a connection between such a radical interpretation of Islam and acts of violence such as the beheading of teacher Paty, you are doing Muslims a disservice. It was not the critics who made the connection, but the author himself by justifying his act with Islam. The vast majority of Muslims reject such violence. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is a problem they have to deal with.
There is exclusion but no persecution
If Erdogan uses Macron’s comments to portray himself as a Muslim advocate against the supposedly Islamophobic West, this is just another transparent attempt to score points in the Islamic world. With all the problems of social exclusion and economic disadvantage that really exist, it is of no use to Muslims in Europe if Erdogan conjures up a confrontation that does not exist.
The Islamic umbrella organization in France, CFCM, emphasized on Monday that there is no state discrimination in France and that Erdogan’s call for a boycott is counterproductive. Muslims are not persecuted, but are free to build mosques and practice their beliefs, said the president of the CFCM. It is true that Muslims have every right to hate Muhammad cartoons. But it would be wrong to give up the cartoons under pressure from the terrorists.
The outrage of Erdogan and other politicians over the alleged persecution of Muslims in Europe is all the less credible when you consider their silence on Uighurs in China. In Xinjiang, one million members of the Muslim Turkish people have been detained in camps, many for the sole reason that they have beards, do not drink alcohol or pray in the mosque. But Erdogan hardly says a word about it, out of fear of Beijing.
