By Andreas Rinke
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday Islam “belongs to Germany”, in a clear repudiation of anti-immigration protesters gathering in Dresden and other cities.
A day after walking arm-in-arm with French President Francois Hollande at the front of a massive march in Paris to honor the victims of killings by Islamic militants, Merkel received the Turkish prime minister and urged dialogue among religions.
The conservative chancellor pointed to comments made by former German president Christian Wulff, who said in 2010 that Islam was part of Germany, triggering a fierce debate.
“Former president Wulff said Islam belongs to Germany. That is true. I also hold this opinion,” Merkel said at a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who also took part with other world leaders in the Paris march on Sunday.
She was speaking hours before marches by a movement dubbed PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, were due to begin in several German cities.
Such demonstrations, launched in Dresden, have been dwarfed by counter-protests. Merkel has said PEGIDA’s rallies are organized by people with “hatred in their hearts”.
Merkel said her government was doing everything it could to ensure migrants were being successfully integrated into German society regardless of their religion.
Nearly two in three of the four million Muslims in Germany are of Turkish origin. Roughly half are German citizens.
But Merkel acknowledged the need for better dialogue between religions, praising Muslims for publicly rejecting the use of violence after the Paris killings and calling Turkey an ally in the fight against terrorism.
http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-says-islam-belongs-germany-ahead-dresden-rally-171632978.html
Hitler wished Islam belonged to Germany. He believed that if Germans had abandoned Christianity for Islam, they would have conquered the world.
Is it too late to return it for a refund?