North Macedonia

y gathering 39 local scholars, experts, and civil society activists specialized in racism and human rights, the fourth edition of the European Islamophobia Report addresses a still timely and politically important issue. All 34 country Breports included in this book follow a unique structure that is convenient, first, for com- EUROPEAN paring country reports and, second, for selected readings on a particular topic such as politics, employment, or education with regards to Islamophobia across Europe. ISLAMOPHOBIA The present report investigates in detail the underlying dynamics that directly or indirectly support the rise of anti-Muslim racism in Europe. This extends from Islamophobic statements spread in national media to laws and policies that restrain the fundamental rights REPORT of European Muslim citizens. As a result, the European Islamophobia Report 2018 dis- cusses the impact of anti-Muslim discourse on human rights, multiculturalism, and the 2018 state of law in Europe. This fourth edition of our report highlights how European societies are challenged by the ENES BAYRAKLI • FARID HAFEZ (Eds) rise of violent far-right groups that do not only preach hatred of Muslims but also partici- pate in the organization of bloody terror attacks. The rise of far-right terrorist groups such as AFO (Action of Operational Forces) in France or the network Hannibal in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland confirms EUROPOL’s alarming surveys on the growing danger of right-wing terrorism. This year, SETA worked in cooperation with the Leopold Weiss Institute, an Austrian NGO based in Vienna dedicated to the research of Muslims in Europe. In addition, the Euro- pean Union has funded the European Islamophobia Report 2018 through the program EUROPEAN ISLAMOPHOBIA REPORT 2018 “Civil Society Dialogue Between EU and Turkey (CSD-V)”. ds) About SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) is a non-profit research institute based in Turkey dedicated to innovative studies on national, regional and international issues. SETA is the leading think tank in Turkey and has offices in Ankara, Istanbul, Washington D.C. and Cairo. The objective of SETA is to produce up-to-date and accu- rate knowledge and analyses in the fields of politics, economy, and society, and inform policy makers and the public on changing political, economic, social, and cultural condi- tions. Through research reports, publications, brain storming sessions, conferences and policy recommendations, SETA seeks to guide leaders in government, civil society, and business, and contributes to informed decision making mechanisms. ENES BAYRAKLI • FARID HAFEZ (E ANKARA • ISTANBUL • WASHINGTON D.C. • CAIRO • BERLIN • BRUSSELS EUROPEAN ISLAMOPHOBIA REPORT 2018 ENES BAYRAKLI • FARID HAFEZ (Eds) This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors of the national reports; and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and and Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Directorate for EU Affairs. COPYRIGHT © 2019 by SETA All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN: XX First Published in 2019 Cover: Erkan Söğüt Proofreading: Dr. Eva Stamoulou Oral SETA | FOUNDATION FOR POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH Nenehatun Caddesi No: 66 GOP Çankaya 06700 Ankara TÜRKİYE Phone:+90 312.551 21 00 | Fax :+90 312.551 21 90 www.setav.org | [email protected] | @setavakfi SETA | İstanbul Defterdar Mh. Savaklar Cd. Ayvansaray Kavşağı No: 41-43 Eyüpsultan İstanbul TÜRKİYE Phone: +90 212 315 11 00 | Fax: +90 212 315 11 11 SETA | Washington D.C. 1025 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 1106 Washington, D.C., 20036 USA Phone: 202-223-9885 | Fax: 202-223-6099 www.setadc.org | [email protected] | @setadc SETA | Cairo 21 Fahmi Street Bab al Luq Abdeen Flat No 19 Cairo EGYPT Phone: 00202 279 56866 | 00202 279 56985 | @setakahire SETA | Berlin Französische Straße 12, 10117 Berlin GERMANY Phone: +49 30 20188466 SETA | Brussels Avenue des Arts 27, 1000 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE www.setav.org/en | [email protected] ABOUT EDITORS Enes Bayraklı Enes Bayraklı earned his BA, MA and PhD from the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna, and conducted research for his PhD thesis at the Uni- versity of Nottingham in Britain between 2009 and 2010. He was a deputy director at the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center in London in 2011-2013. Bayraklı also served as the founding director of the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centers in Con- stanta and Bucharest, Romania in August-December 2012. He has been a faculty member at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Turkish-German University since 2013. Currently he is also the coordinator of SETA Brussels office and director of European Studies at SETA Foundation. His fields of- re search include Islamophobia in Europe, far-right movements in Europe, the transfor- mation of Turkish foreign policy, foreign policy analysis, and German foreign policy. Farid Hafez Farid Hafez, PhD (Political Science, University of Vienna), is currently lecturer and researcher at the University of Salzburg, Department of Political Science and So- ciology and senior researcher at Georgetown University’s “The Bridge Initiative” at the School of Foreign Service. He defended his habilitation thesis on “Islam-Politics in the Second Republic of Austria” at the University of Salzburg. In 2017, he was a Fulbright visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley and in 2014, he was a visiting scholar at Columbia University, New York. Since 2010 he has been the editor of Islamophobia Studies Yearbook, and since 2016 the co-editor of European Islamophobia Report. Hafez has received the Bruno Kreisky Award for the “Political Book of the Year” for his anthology Islamophobia in Austria (co-edited with John Bunzl). He has more than 80 publications in leading journals such as Politics and Religion, Patterns of Prejudice, and German Politics and Society. His latest publications are Islamophobia in Muslim Majority Societies (Routledge, co-edited with Enes Bayrakli) and Feindbild Islam. Über die Salonfähigkeit von Rassismus (Böhlau). For more information about the EIR: www.islamophobiaeurope.com [email protected] ISLAMOPHOBIA IN NORTH MACEDONIA ISLAMOPHOBIA IN NORTH MACEDONIA NATIONAL REPORT 2018 ORHAN CEKA islamophobiaeurope.com • @islamophobiaEIR 621 EUROPEAN ISLAMOPHOBIA REPORT 2018 622 setav.org ISLAMOPHOBIA IN NORTH MACEDONIA The Author Orhan Ceka is a PhD candidate in the Law and Politics program at the University of Graz, working on the governance of Islam in the Balkans. Ceka has an MA degree in Democracy and Human Rights from the University of Bologna/Sarajevo with a focus on the identity of Balkan Muslims. He conducted studies for his MA on public policy at Sabanci University, Istanbul. Ceka has worked at the Southeast European University, the Centre for Southeast European Studies (CSEES) at the University of Graz, Sabanci University, and was the director of the Liberal Alternative Institute in Tetovo, North Macedonia. His research interests are in the fields of politics of religion, identity politics, Balkan Muslims, and religious institutions, movements and organizations. Disclaimer: Statements of fact and opinion in the national reports of the European Islamophobia Report are those of the respective authors. They are not the expression of the editors or the funding institutions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Directorate for EU Affairs. To cite this report: Orhan Ceka: Islamophobia in North Macedonia: National Report 2018, in: Enes Bayrak- lı & Farid Hafez, European Islamophobia Report 2018, Istanbul, SETA, pp. 621-640. islamophobiaeurope.com • @islamophobiaEIR 623 EUROPEAN ISLAMOPHOBIA REPORT 2018 Executive Summary Despite the many issues that were brought to the forefront during the referendum for the name change in North Macedonia, the process did not lead to higher levels of religious intolerance within the community. However, as it has been the case pre- viously, Albanians were targeted both with the Law on the Use of Languages which is supposed to make the Albanian language used nationally, and with the referendum where Albanians are viewed as citizens with no say on the name issue. Discrimination, Islamophobia, and hate speech have been present during 2018; however, in a lower number of incidents as compared to previous years. Interethnic disputes have consequently led to some incidents on a religious level such as the burning of a mosque or cases of discrimination based on religious affiliation. Few incidents that occurred in 2018 put North Macedonia on the Islamophobia map. A 350-year-old mosque was burnt as a hate crime in Prilep, the eastern part of the country, while on the western part, in Ohrid, heated discussions over the size of a minaret have stalled the restoration process of the mosque itself. Madrasas are still fighting to get legal recognition by the Ministry of Education, while a primary school in Radovish was fined for allowing an iftar dinner to be organized in its prem- ises. Furthermore, a case of discrimination in employment of a hijabi teacher was reported to the Ombudsman but no mention of it was made in the annual report, let alone any action taken to shed light on the case. On the political level, 2018 saw clashes between the government and MPs, and the president of the Islamic Commu- nity of North Macedonia. The Islamic Community of North Macedonia has not really positioned itself as the pioneer in the protection of the rights of Muslims in the country, leaving the space instead to human rights organizations. The involvement of the Islamic Com- munity with the state institutions in detecting and fighting Islamophobia is more than necessary. 624 setav.org ISLAMOPHOBIA IN NORTH MACEDONIA Извршно резиме И покрај многуте прашања кои беа отворени за време на референдумот за промена на името во Северна Македонија, самиот процес не доведе до по- високи нивоа на верска интолеранција во самата држава.

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