Strasbourg, 15 December 2009

France has needing more than ever to promote respect and understanding when crisis affects the poor and raises questions about the future of all our citizens. The strength of our country has always been in the values of our Republic.

It is the guarantor of equality through the principle of secularism which is our pride through its History and its commitment to humanism during centuries.

Today, we are going through a period where dissemination of hatred and xenophobia are in high progresses. Discussions at European level about cultural diversity and place of other faiths, mainly Muslims who are increasingly stigmatized raises the question of our social cohesion. The Europe of peace was built by the French-German couple; these two countries are now affected by speeches that are against our most sacred ideals. We note again that the election periods become conducive to comments or speeches flirting with the unacceptable in terms of our fundamental rights and freedoms.

France is no exception and we regret the lack of control of our elected representatives in their public statements. The lack of representation of our cultural diversity in political area is the result of our democratic deficiencies and therefore should in no case allow an aggressive attitude towards these citizens. The limited media visibility of this component of our society does not mean that it does not exist and is not injured by the attack which touches the depths of his soul because of some speeches of politicians. The ethics of Republican political leader should not allow such blunders from our elected representatives and our government. Discussions on national identity are not made to exclude a portion of our population. The amalgam mixing problems of employment, ghettoization, youth, place of religion in our common space, which target Muslim community by naming it as responsible for part of the policy mistakes of the past 30 years have no place in France.

All this rhetoric which are very similar to the anti-Semitic imagery used during the 1930 and 1940 do not augur for better times and raise the question of our security and our peace. Muslim communities have been an integral part of European history for ages and are an important part of modern European societies, contributing to its cultural, social, economic and political well-being. This society is now riddled by hate speech and the open rise of anti-Muslim hatred and its political affirmation which challenge all the achievements of the Second World War disaster. This is especially true through the French colonial history which has woven ties unwavering and deep with other cultures and Islam in particular for centuries.

We call each of the political actors to challenge the messages broadcast towards the public and to avoid situations of slippage that are facilitated by audiences vulnerable and open to extremism. Our commitment to live together while respecting the most basic rules of our Republic is the assurance of our willingness to discuss and struggling against inequality and exclusion, which moves in direction of a portion of our citizens.

Contact : CAKMAK Tuncay +336.26.49.13.64