.... But many local Muslims, like Ridvan Carpar, said it was better not to press the issue. Mr. Carpar, 35, came from Turkey when he was 5 years old and works in a kebab stand across from the mosque, which itself is evidence of the city’s changing face. Above the sign for Pasha kebabs, grimy letters on the facade still spell out “Schreiner’s Drugstore.”
“Until now, we’ve never had any problems,” Mr. Carpar said. “A mosque is a mosque, whether it has a minaret or not.”
Mr. Carpar inadvertently echoed the same sentiment as Frank Franz, the state chairman in the Saarland of the far-right party, the National Democrats, which has two seats on the city council. “A minaret has nothing to do with freedom of religion; it isn’t necessary,” Mr. Franz said.[Völklingen Journal] Read more
