BERLIN – As more mosques engulfed in flames, leaders of the German Muslim community have lamented the lack of solidarity from officials and public.
“If mosques in our country burn, then our country burns,” Aiman Mazyek, chairman of the Central Council of Muslims, told reporters in Berlin on Thursday, AP reported.
A suspected arson attack on a Berlin mosque overnight was the 24th time in some two months that a mosque had been deliberately targeted.
According to its statement, the Turkish-Islamic organization DITIB called on German authorities to ensure that Muslim places of worship were protected, to find out who was behind attacks as quickly as possible and to bring those responsible to justice.
Several recent attacks on Turkish-backed mosques in Germany have been blamed on Kurdish groups angered by Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria.
However, far-right extremists are suspected in many other attacks, including a threatening letter containing a white powder that prompted the evacuation of the Central Council of Muslims’ offices Wednesday.
Zekeriya Altug, spokesman for the Coordination Council of Muslims in Germany, said: ”we miss clear sympathy from the public and politicians.”
Germany’s Interior Ministry recently released figures showing that some 950 anti-Muslim offenses had been carried out in Germany in 2017. Many of those crimes were committed by far-right elements.