The Eyyub Sultan Mosque in Strasbourg. – T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes
- The Millî Görüs association, which is building a large mosque in Strasbourg, has come out of its silence after having been at the heart of a controversy for two weeks. Since the town hall has issued the possibility of granting him a subsidy of 2.56 million euros.
- The Millî Görüs association ruled the accusations made to it “unfounded”, in particular those emanating from the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin.
- The president of the place of worship under construction assured that his confederation (CIMG East) had “transparent” funding and was “not attached to any country”, here Turkey in this case. “We are not a political party”, he again proclaimed in response to those who claim that Millî Görüs advocates a political Islam.
“Our mosque has been the target of many accusations which have affected us. This is how the press conference opened in the grounds of the Eyyub Sultan mosque on Tuesday in Strasbourg. By this means, the Millî Görüs association wanted to come out of its silence two weeks after having been at the heart of a controversy.
This began after the Strasbourg city council voted on March 22 for a subsidy of 2.56 million euros for its Grand Mosque under construction in the Meinau district. The opposition had aimed, then the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin had denounced “a mosque supported by a federation which defends political Islam”. Before declaring that the ecologist town hall “should not have financed foreign interference on our soil”.
So many accusations that the Millî Görüs association wanted to challenge and deemed “unfounded”. “All this is not tolerable in a country like France,” said Eyüp Sahin. The president of the place of worship under construction assured that his confederation (CIMG East) had “transparent” funding and was “not attached to any country”, here Turkey in this case. “We are not a political party”, he again proclaimed in response to those who claim that Millî Görüs advocates a political Islam.
Another subject on the agenda, the “Charter of the principles of Islam in France”. The text had been ratified in mid-January by five of the nine federations making up the French Council for Muslim Worship (CFCM), but not by Millî Görüs. Here again, its representatives gave their version.
“The target of this charter has been completely modified and misguided from its initial spirit, we no longer even spoke of the training of imams. […] We were presented with a document in which we had not put a single comma. It was intolerable and unacceptable, ”explained Fatih Sarikir, president of the national confederation Millî Görüs.
A signed policy statement
Alongside representatives of CCMTF and Faith and Practice, two associations which had also refused to sign the charter, he then ratified a “declaration of principle”. On this document, all repeat in particular their “adherence to the principles of the Republic”.
Would that mean that they now want to ratify the famous “Charter of the principles of Islam in France”? “We are ready to continue the work to arrive at a just charter which will respect the separation between State and religion”, replied Fatih Sarikir.
Finally, as for the possible municipal subsidy, the representatives of the Millî Görüs association assured that they would “bring all the clarity to the town hall”. In a press release last Thursday, the Strasbourg councilor Jeanne Barseghian had indicated that a final decision would be “taken quickly, transparently, during April”.