MEP welcomes EU initiative on Islam council

German Liberal deputy Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has welcomed an iniative to establish a European council of Islam.

Chatzimarkakis said that it was important for the EU to take the lead in highlighting the shared values between the Islamic world and the west.

“The time has come to start to think about the identity of the EU and especially about the identity of European Muslims,” he told journalists in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

“We wouldn’t be an EU of tolerance if we didn’t offer the chance for European Muslims to establish an identity,” he added.

The international council of multicultural youth (COJEP) will hold several meetings this year to define the role of the European council of Islam, and to establish the priorities to be addressed.

Veysel Filiz, vice-president of COJEP, stressed the need for better EU-Islam relations.

“[The] difficulty in establishing a dialogue can sometimes lead to the discrimination and racism that we’ve seen over the course of the last few years,” he said.

“On the other hand, the 20 million European Muslims don’t have one single interpretation of Islam, and that is a fact that is not necessarily known by the population as a whole, or by the European media.

“That is why there is sometimes a negative image of Muslims and of Islam. This situation does not encourage a dialogue,” he added

It is anticipated that following the meetings, proposals for a project will then be submitted to the EU institutions.

Chatzimarkakis urged the commission to support the iniative.

“We would like to have a council that is followed up by the commission,” he said.

“We need the help of the commission. I am very confident that we will achieve success in the end.”

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