French minister warns against “foreign interference” in the financing of the Strasbourg mosque
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The construction of a mosque in Strasbourg has led to a quarrel with the French Minister of the Interior, who accuses the Strasbourg municipal authorities of using public money to finance foreign interference on French soil.
The planned Eyyoub Sultan The mosque in the city in eastern France has found itself in the government’s crosshairs as it is backed by a controversial Turkish Muslim group.
In most of France, under the country’s strict rules separating state and religion, the government is not allowed to help fund religious practice. However, for historical reasons, the rules are different in the Strasbourg Region.
Monday, the municipal officials of Strasbourg, led by the mayor Vert Jeanne Barseghian, approved a grant of 2.5 million euros to the Islamic Confederation of Milli Gorus (MGIC), a pan-European movement for the Turkish diaspora.
But the MGIC is one of the three Muslim confederations in France that refused to sign a new anti-extremism charter defended by President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron wants the groups to commit in writing to renounce “political Islam” and respect French law, in order to fight radical Islam, which he sees as a threat to the country’s secular system.
Meanwhile, the government also drafted legislation that would require religious groups to report significant foreign funding and give the state increased powers to silence speech deemed to propagate hatred or violence.
French ‘interference’ on oneselfI
Speaking Tuesday on the French television channel BFMTV, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin expressed the opinion of the government according to which the refusal of the MGIC to sign the charter meant that it could no longer be considered as a representative group. Islam in France.
He went on to criticize local authorities saying the ministry felt it “should not fund foreign interference on our soil.”
Darmanin said he asked the highest government official in the Strasbourg region to file a complaint with the administrative court to stop the grant.
Mayor of Strasbourg Jeanne Barseghian said the mosque project had been in the works since 2017, before his election. But she insisted that the funds depend on the presentation by Milli Gorus of a solid financing plan and “a reaffirmation of the values of the Republic”.
MGIC official Eyup Sahin told AFP news agency that his association refused to sign the charter because it was not allowed to participate fully in its development.
There have long been divisions between the different formations within the French Council for Muslim Worship.