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In the dispute with Macron over the caricatures of Muhammad, the Turkish president presents himself as a defender of Muslims and evokes a new cultural war with the West. This is not in the interest of European Muslims.
As French President Emmanuel Macron opposes radical Islamists, he is attacked in Muslim countries, like here at a demonstration in Istanbul.
Emmanuel Macron took it for granted when, following the brutal murder of master Samuel Paty by an Islamist, he stressed that the French would not be deprived of the freedom to express opinions and draw caricatures. This was not an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. Nor was it an attack on Islam when the French president announced he would take stronger action against Islamist groups who refuse to integrate and question the authority of the state.
If Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, declares this an affront to Muslims and calls on his compatriots to boycott French products, this is a transparent attempt to evoke a new culture war. The Turkish president complained 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 the Second World War.
Of course, Muslims in Europe suffer from social exclusion and economic disadvantage. But there is no question of state discrimination.
It is now fitting that many Muslims in Europe suffer from exclusion and discrimination. In Germany, Turkish guest workers and their descendants are too often not accepted as full citizens. In France, many children and grandchildren of Muslim immigrants from the former Maghreb colonies still live isolated in crumbling banlieues with serious consequences for their educational and working opportunities.
Nor can it be denied that Islamophobia exists in Europe. Much of what stands as criticism of Islam is poorly concealed racism and hatred of foreigners. However, nothing would be more wrong than dismissing any criticism as an expression of Islamophobia. If some mosques urge believers to distance themselves from the rest of society, if preachers even invoke 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, Erdogan is doing Muslims a disservice. It was not the critics who established the link, but the author himself justifying his act with Islam. The overwhelming majority of Muslims reject such violence. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is a problem they face.
There is exclusion but no persecution
If Erdogan uses Macron’s remarks to present himself as the defender of Muslims against the alleged Islamophobic West, this is nothing more than another transparent attempt to score points in the Islamic world. With all the problems of social exclusion and economic disadvantage that actually exist, it is useless for Muslims in Europe if Erdogan evokes a confrontation that doesn’t exist.
The Islamic umbrella organization in France, CFCM, stressed 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 put their beliefs into practice, said the CFCM president. Muslims have every right to hate Mohammed cartoons. But it would be wrong to give up cartoons under terrorist pressure.
The indignation of Erdogan and other politicians at the alleged persecution of Muslims in Europe is all the less credible when one considers their silence on Uighurs in China. In Xinjiang, one million members of the Muslim Turkish people have been imprisoned in camps, many simply for having a beard, not drinking alcohol or praying in the mosque. But Erdogan hardly says a word about it – for fear of Beijing.
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