Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 8
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Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 8 Editor-in-chief Oliver Scharbrodt Editors Samim Akgönül Ahmet Alibašić Jørgen S. Nielsen Egdūnas Račius LEIDEN | BOSTON For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV Contents Preface ix The Editors xv Editorial Advisers xvi List of Technical Terms xvii Researching Muslims in Europe: Four Decades of Development 1 Jørgen S. Nielsen Country Surveys Albania 19 Olsi Jazexhi Armenia 34 Sevak Karamyan Austria 45 Kerem Öktem Azerbaijan 69 Altay Goyushov Belarus 82 Daša Słabčanka Belgium 91 Jean-François Husson Bosnia and Herzegovina 119 Muhamed Jusić, Aid Smajić and Muhamed Fazlović Bulgaria 143 Aziz Nazmi Shakir Croatia 161 Dino Mujadžević For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV vi contents Cyprus 174 Ali Dayıoğlu and Mete Hatay Czech Republic 194 Štěpán Macháček Denmark 203 Brian Arly Jacobsen Estonia 221 Ringo Ringvee Finland 239 Teemu Pauha France 255 Anne-Laure Zwilling Georgia 285 Thomas Liles and Bayram Balci Germany 305 Mathias Rohe Greece 324 Konstantinos Tsitselikis and Alexandros Sakellariou Hungary 337 Esztella Csiszár Iceland 352 Kristján Þór Sigurðsson Ireland 362 James Carr Italy 380 Maria Bombardieri Latvia 403 Simona Gurbo For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV Contents vii Lithuania 410 Egdūnas Račius Luxembourg 422 Elsa Pirenne and Lucie Waltzer Macedonia 441 Piro Rexhepi Malta 456 Arsalan Alshinawi Moldova 463 Aurelia Felea Montenegro 479 Sabina Pačariz The Netherlands 495 Martijn de Koning Norway 514 Sindre Bangstad and Olav Elgvin Poland 531 Agata S. Nalborczyk Portugal 549 José Mapril Romania 562 Irina Vainovski-Mihai Russia 578 Elmira Akhmetova Serbia 598 Ivan Ejub Kostić Slovakia 611 Michal Cenker For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV viii contents Slovenia 627 Christian Moe Spain 639 Jordi Moreras Sweden 656 Göran Larsson Switzerland 669 Mallory Schneuwly Purdie and Andreas Tunger-Zanetti Turkey 688 İştar Gözaydın Ukraine 701 Mykhaylo Yakubovych United Kingdom 717 Asma Mustafa For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV Macedonia Piro Rexhepi1 Introduction The disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, accompanied by mass violence, genocide, and the displacement of Muslim populations, left the position of Muslim communities in the for- mer Yugoslav republics in a precarious state. This is particularly the case where Muslim communities constitute a minority, as in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia where Muslims constitute around 33.33% of the pop- ulation.2 Post-independence Macedonia was conceived of as an “exclusively ethnic Macedonian nation” with ethnic Macedonians being defijined in the constitution as narod (nation) and minorities as nacionalnosti (nationali- ties) instituting, as Vasiliki Neofotistos argues, a “sharp distinction between the Macedonian narod, as the ‘real Macedonians’ who deserved full political membership in their state, and other nacionalnosti, who could never qualify.”3 Constitutional arrangements, combined with traditional forms of widespread discrimination towards minorities and Muslims in state institutions and soci- ety, have recently converged with the overall rise of Islamophobia around Europe4 and the increased infringement of civil rights in the name of national security and European Union integration.5 Portrayals of Albanian Muslims as a threat to the nation, and as being backward or terrorists, have facilitated ongoing structural racism and segregation that resulted in violent clashes 1 Piro Rexhepi holds a PhD in Politics (2013) and is currently a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen. 2 Mughal, Abdul Ghafffar, “Muslim Population of the Republic of Macedonia: A Demographic and Socio-economic Profijile”, Balkan Social Science Review, vol. 5 (2015), pp. 87–88. 3 Neofotistos, Vasiliki P., “ ‘The Balkans’ Other within’: Imaginings of the West in the Republic of Macedonia”, History and Anthropology, vol. 19, no. 1 (2008), p. 25. 4 For more on this, see Lean, Nathan Chapman, The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims (London: Pluto Press, 2012); and Kaya, Serdar, “Islamophobia in Western Europe: A Comparative, Multilevel Study”, Journal of Muslim Minority Afffairs, vol. 35, no. 3 (2015), pp. 450–465. 5 Rexhepi, Piro, “Mainstreaming Islamophobia: The Politics of European Enlargement and the Balkan Crime-Terror Nexus”, East European Quarterly, vol. 43, nos. 2–3 (2015), pp. 189–214. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004336025_028 For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV 442 Rexhepi between ethnic Albanian insurgents and Macedonian security forces in 2001.6 The end of the conflict was followed by the Ohrid Peace Agreement that sought to address some of the structural ways in which the marginalisation of minori- ties in Macedonia had become a constant source of conflict.7 The crisis resur- faced in 2014 and is ongoing after the failure of the Government to implement the peace agreement, combined with larger political and economic crisis and several controversial police and judiciary actions in the arrest of Albanians under charges of terrorism.8 Attacks on Islamic institutions and Muslim communities and individuals are widespread and increased in 2015. A recent report on Islamophobia in Macedonia9 indicates that attacks directed at Muslim communities are difffiji- cult to track as they are either underreported or converge with intersectional violence geared towards ethnic minorities and poor communities, particularly Muslim Roma and Albanian communities. The media and public offfijicials have exploited the now global trend of “Islamic radicalism” to explain the various eco- nomic and political crises of 2015, including the violent clashes on 10 May in the town of Kumanovo that left 18 people dead.10 While there is still no verdict on the events, the Ministry of the Interior undertook several raids of mosques and Muslim community organisations in August 2015 implying a link between the incidents in Kumanovo and radical groups aligned with ISIS.11 In addition, the Government frequently justifijied the clampdown on refugees and migrants seeking passage through Macedonia with claims of suspicion that there could 6 For more on the 2001 conflict, see Koppa, Maria‐Eleni, “Ethnic Albanians in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: between Nationality and Citizenship”, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, vol. 7, no.4 (2001), pp. 37–65. 7 For more on the Ohrid Peace Agreement, see Reka, Armend, “The Ohrid Agreement: The Travails of Inter-ethnic Relations in Macedonia”, Human Rights Review, vol. 9, no. 1 (2008), pp. 55–69. 8 Bieber, Florian, “Macedonia on the Brink”, Open Democracy, 28 July 2014, www.opendem ocracy.net/opensecurity/florian-bieber/macedonia-on-brink, accessed 28 June 2016. 9 Georgiev, Mitre, “Macedonia”, in Enes Bayraklı and Farid Hafez (eds.), European Islamophobia Report 2015 (Istanbul: SETA, 2016), pp. 355–373. 10 Dimovski, Sase, “Kumanovo gunmen face trial in Macedonia”, Balkan Insight, 8 February 2016, www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kumanovo-gunmen-face-trial-in-macedonia-02-08- 2016-1, accessed 28 June 2016. 11 Marusic, Sinisa J, “Macedonian police targets ISIS suspects”, Balkan Insight, 6 August 2015, www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-launches-anti-terror-busts-08-06-2015, accessed 28 June 2016. For use by the Author only | © 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV Macedonia 443 be members of terrorist organisations traveling among the refugees.12 The ill- treatment of refugees by authorities and lack of institutional response to the refugee and migrant crisis led to the most signifijicant humanitarian activity among Muslim communities in the country since the Kosovo refugee crisis in 1999. Despite the fact that contact with refugees who have not claimed asylum in Macedonia is considered a crime, several local Muslim community mem- bers organised humanitarian relief packages, transportation, health care, and shelter for refugees and migrants passing through Macedonia. Several mosques opened their doors to refugees, particularly the central mosque of the town of Kumanovo, which was one of the main transit points of refugees crossing from Macedonia into Serbia.13 The controversial government sponsored “Skopje 2014” project, meant to transform Skopje into a proper “ ‘European’ capital,”14 has deepened the grievances of Muslim communities on issues relating to land appropriation and designation of historical Islamic sites for new urban projects that do not acknowledge the multi-ethnic and multi-religious population of Skopje sig- nifying “that neither Albanians, nor Muslims have [a] place in a European metropole.”15 The appropriation of mosques and other Islamic structures by the State as sites of cultural heritage is a long standing issue in Macedonia, par- ticularly as the return of religious property to the Muslim communities after 1991 was frequently either not addressed or declined by authorities.16 Of 300 applications made by the Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia (ICRM) for the return of 3,869,806 m2 of land and 41,258 m2 of nationalised buildings, the IRCM has only had 10% of this property returned.17 Finally, 2015 saw the offfijicial accreditation of the fijirst Faculty of Islamic Sciences in Macedonia. Funded by the Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia, the faculty had received its fijirst generation of students in 2007. With the help of the Turkish International Cooperation