About a dozen German Muslim organizations met in Cologne on Friday to sign a joint declaration against terrorism, sharply condemning the attack on the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead.
Speaking at a news conference, Bekir Alboga, secretary general of the Ditib Turkish Islam Union, called the tragedy "an attack on everyone's freedom" and "an abuse of the religion of peace."
Alboga warned against the instrumentalization of the "abominable act" by groups critical of or hostile towards Islam, like the PEGIDA movement (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) which has gained momentum in Germany in recent months. [Deutsche Welle] Read more
