Islam does not belong here, says German MP

“Islam is not part of our tradition and identity in Germany and so does not belong in Germany,” Volker Kauder, head of chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party in parliament, told the Passauer Neue Presse yesterday.

“But Muslims do belong in Germany. As state citizens, of course, they enjoy their full rights,” he added.

His remarks added to a highly charged nationwide debate about a campaign by an ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim group, The True Religion, to hand out millions of free German translations of the Koran to non-Muslims, which was also discussed at the conference.

It was one of a series hosted by the government to improve the integration of the four million Muslims living in Germany, – a nation of 81 million – about half of whom have German citizenship.

Many came from Turkey in the 1960s and 1970s and their hard work contributed to Germany’s post-war economic miracle. Kauder’s comments quickly came under fire. “Volker Kauder is the last crusader for the conservatives. He is putting a bomb in the Islam conference,” said senior opposition Social Democrat MP Thomas Oppermann.

“He is denigrating and marginalising all Muslims in Germany. That course is utterly wrong,” he added.