17 September 2010 - 19:30

The German government must face up to the fact that Islamophobia does exist in the country, a German-Turkish Muslim activist said here on Friday.

Pinar Cetin of the Turkish Muslim organization DITIB stressed the Merkel government had to acknowledge that Islamophobia was a problem in Germany and could no longer deny it.

She warned that a growing 'latent Islamophobia' was 'not in the interest of the country.'

Cetin cited the release of a recent controversial book which alleged Muslims were undermining German society, as another example of Islamophobia in Germany.

German Muslim leaders have repeatedly made clear Islamophobia had turned into a 'major challenge' for Germany.

Germany's 4.3 million Muslims have voiced growing concern over the Islamophobic wave fuelled by mostly right-wing German politicians.

'The mood in the German Muslim community is filled with fear because Islamophobia has reached the middle of German society,' according to a Berlin Muslim community leader, Faical Salhi.

'I am afraid for the safety of my wife and children. There are daily attacks against Muslims in Germany simply because one has a beard or is wearing a headscarf,' Salhi added.

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