VZCZCXRO8466
RR RUEHAG RUEHLZ
DE RUEHDF #0010/01 0880757
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290757Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0067
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0079

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DUSSELDORF 000010 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KISL GM
SUBJECT: MUSLIM COORDINATION COUNCIL EMERGING 
 
REF: 06 BERLIN 2893 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000010  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The 2006 initiative by Federal Interior 
Minister Schaeuble to set up a "German Islam Conference" as an 
official forum for exploring ways to achieve a better 
integration of Muslims in German society (reftel) has spurred 
efforts among major Muslim groups to form a single, overarching 
umbrella organization that aims to represent the interests of 
the Muslim community as a whole vis-`-vis German government, 
both at the state and federal level.  What is now being called 
the Muslim Coordination Council (KRM) is slated to take over 
this function and may be operational as early as this summer, 
although a number of organizational problems remain.  Observers 
consider the establishment of the KRM an important - and long 
overdue - step in the ongoing process of Muslim integration in 
Germany.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
ZMD Leader Confident about Coordination Council 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  In a March 23 meeting with the CG, President of the 
Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) Axel Ayyub Koehler 
confirmed press reports that the establishment of a new Muslim 
Coordination Council in Germany ("Koordinationsrat der Muslime" 
- KRM) is well underway.  Koehler, a Muslim convert who for many 
years was active in local FDP politics in Cologne as a City 
Councilman, took credit for efforts to create this central 
umbrella organization that aims to represent Muslims living in 
Germany and would serve as a single cooperation partner for the 
government, on the federal, state and local level on all matters 
relating to Muslim integration.  Koehler told us that he had 
been working for the last 20 years on the establishment of a 
single Muslim representation in Germany, but because of the 
diverse interests of the various groups it had not been possible 
until fall 2006 to bring the four leading organizations together 
for such a goal.  He expressed confidence that a breakthrough 
was near and that the Coordination Council would play an 
important role in facilitating Muslim integration in Germany. 
 
 
 
Member Organizations to Remain Independent 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (U) The four Muslim umbrella organizations participating in 
the negotiations on the establishment of the Coordination 
Council (KRM) are: 
 
 
 
The Turkish Islamic Union (DITIB), Cologne 
 
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD), Cologne 
 
The Islamic Council for the Federal Republic of Germany, Cologne 
 
The Association of Islamic Cultural Centers (VIKZ), Cologne 
 
 
 
According to Koehler, all four organizations, the most important 
Muslim umbrella groups in Germany, will retain their 
independence. Each will be represented on the governing board of 
the KRM, and the Presidency of the KRM would rotate among its 
member organizations every six months.  Since all these 
organizations have their headquarters in Cologne, the KRM would 
also be based in this city (which Koehler referred to several 
times as the "capital of Islam in Germany"), even if this would 
require frequent travel to Berlin. 
 
 
 
Statute and Rules of Procedure Still TBD 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Aside from a one-page letter of intent on the 
creation of the KRM, signed by the four organizations in fall 
2006, the negotiating partners have not agreed on other formal 
documents.  Koehler told us that negotiations have taken place 
regularly over the last few months, with meetings held at least 
once or twice a week.  The talks are currently focusing on the 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000010  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
drafting of a statute and the rules of procedure for the KRM, 
which will be most likely organized in the form of a registered 
society ("e.V.") under German association law.   Although some 
problems remain to be resolved, Koehler expressed optimism that 
an agreement on these issues could be reached by summer.  He 
indicated that negotiations had been held up in the past by 
DITIB's insistence (as the largest of the four organizations) on 
having more influence in shaping the future policies of the KRM 
than the other three member organizations.  In addition, its 
affiliation with the Turkish government often required DITIB to 
obtain approval from Ankara before it could agree on certain 
points, which also slowed down the negotiations.  Koehler 
predicted that DITIB, in order to be able to play a major role 
in the KRM, would eventually have to emancipate itself from the 
control of the Turkish government.  He also maintained that many 
German-based DITIB leaders had begun to accept the notion that 
the KRM could only operate effectively on the basis of equality 
among its membership organizations. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  However, another source close to the negotiations 
told us that DITIB would obtain three seats on the future 
Governing Board of the KRM, while the three other organizations 
would receive two seats each (an arrangement that would also 
avoid the possibility of a tied vote).  In addition, DITIB would 
have the right to exercise a veto on certain decisions of the 
KRM, our source said.  Embassy Berlin has received identical 
information. 
 
 
 
Positive Reaction, Support from NRW Integration Ministry 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) NRW Integration Minister Armin Laschet recently called 
the plans for establishment of the KRM a "big and important 
step" for Muslim integration in Germany, but pointed out that 
because most Muslims were not organized under any of these 
groups, the participating four organizations - despite their 
importance - still only represented a minority.  NRW Integration 
Commissioner Thomas Kufen, at whose initiative the negotiations 
on the establishment of KRM got started last fall, told us that 
the leaders of the four organizations will brief him and 
Minister Laschet on the results of their negotiations and 
discuss them with Ministry experts before the KRM is officially 
launched, as early as this summer. 
 
 
 
Disagreements on Religious Instruction 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Kufen pointed out to us that although the NRW 
government is looking forward to working with the KRM on many 
aspects of Muslim integration, it could not accept the KRM as a 
cooperation partner in connection with the planned introduction 
of Muslim religious instruction at NRW schools.  This matter 
could only be discussed and regulated in cooperation with local 
Mosque communities.  The KRM was an association, and not a 
religious community, Kufen said, and could therefore not play a 
role in the ongoing negotiations, which are to prepare the 
ground for Islamic religious instruction at local schools in 
Cologne and Duisburg by the summer of 2008. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  In our conversation with Koehler, it became quite 
evident that he (and leaders of the other participating 
organizations) still hoped the KRM could serve as the competent 
cooperation partner for the NRW state government on questions 
relating to Islamic religious instruction.  He presented us with 
an 80-page curriculum that had been developed several years ago 
by the ZMD's pedagogic working group for Islamic religious 
instruction at German grade schools, expressing the hope that 
this could serve as the basis for a revised and updated concept 
to be jointly worked out by the KRM and the NRW school 
authorities.  Kufen stressed, however, that the NRW government 
would stick to its position, i.e. would not accept the KRM as 
cooperation partner in this respect. 
 
 
 
Shiites but not Alevites Represented on the KRM 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000010  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Asked whether the KRM would also represent Shiites in 
Germany, Koehler answered in the affirmative, pointing out that 
the Islamic Center Hamburg with its many Shiite members was a 
member organization of the ZMD.  On the "Alevite Community in 
Germany" (AABF), which has elements of Shiism in its creed, 
Koehler referred to this organization as primarily a political 
group of former Turkish communists and leftists who used a 
religious cover to attract followers.  It therefore had no place 
on the KRM, he stated.  AABF Secretary General Ali Toprak 
confirmed to us that, contrary to press reports, his 
organization had indeed not been invited by the other Muslim 
groups to cooperate with them in forming the KRM.  Toprak 
stressed that even if the Alevite Community had received such an 
invitation, it would not have cooperated, because it wants to 
retain its status as an independent religious community.  He 
added that the Alevites do not feel represented by the KRM, 
"neither in political nor in theological terms."  (Note: 
Koehler referred favorably to another Alevite group, the ABAF, 
indicating that it is a member of the Islamrat, which would 
presumably open the door to its membership in the KRM.  End 
Note.) 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
---------- 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The cooperation of the four leading Muslim umbrella 
organizations and the soon-to-be constituted Muslim Coordination 
Council is a significant development within the Muslim community 
in Germany.  It is likely to facilitate efforts by the federal 
and state governments to achieve a better integration of 
Germany's Muslim minority, even if many problems still remain 
unsolved, in particular the issue of Islamic religious 
instruction in schools.  The creation of the KRM will likely 
open a new chapter in the development of Muslim life in Germany. 
 Koehler's role in this process seems to arise out of his 
political experience and his long service in local government. 
His age (68) and failing health (heart problem), however, 
suggests that he is not likely to remain in a leadership 
position for long.  A new generation of articulate Muslim 
leaders, such as Aiman Mazyek of ZMD and Bekir Alboga of DITIB, 
both of whom were born and raised in Germany, stand ready to 
move into these leadership positions.  End comment. 
 
 
 
¶11.  (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
BOYSE