VZCZCXRO7984
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHDF #0003/01 0261221
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261221Z JAN 10
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0258
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0276

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSSELDORF 000003 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KISL GM
SUBJECT: FIRST MUSLIM PARTY IN GERMANY PREPARING TO GO NATIONAL 
 
REF: 2009 DUSSELDORF 32 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000003  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary: Germany's first and only Muslim-oriented 
political party, Alliance for Peace and Fairness (BFF) -- up 
until now only active in Bonn --  will run in the North 
Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state elections this May and ultimately 
aims to form party organizations in other states and on the 
national level.  The BFF, founded only eight months ago, 
surprisingly won two seats in the Bonn city council in the 
August 30, 2009 city elections.  The party has a very moderate 
platform, focusing on strengthening families and promoting 
women's rights. The BFF expects that it can take advantage of 
the growing Muslim population in NRW and Germany to become a 
regular fixture in German politics.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
BFF Sees Need for a Muslim Party 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a meeting with ConOffs January 22, BFF founder and 
leader Haluk Yildiz confirmed for the first time outside of his 
party organization that the BFF would take part in the NRW state 
parliament elections on May 9.  Yildiz and other party members 
founded the BFF after concluding that Bonn and NRW needed a 
Muslim-led and oriented party in light of the current political 
party realities.  While the two major German parties, the 
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party 
(SPD), have Muslim members and candidates, Yildiz considers 
these members mere political tokens since they do not play a 
role in the leadership of these parties.  The exception is the 
Greens which have a Turkish Muslim party chairman, Cem Oezdemir, 
but Yildiz considers this a political anomaly.   Yildiz 
described the right-wing parties in NRW (see reftel) as 
anti-immigrant and the major left-wing party, Die Linke, as 
anti-religion, explaining that the only real alternative is a 
party led by Muslims. The BFF has established organizations in 
40 cities in NRW, including the so-called "Capital of Islam in 
Germany", Cologne. 
 
 
 
BFF Has Eye on the Long Term 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) In NRW's August 30, 2009 municipal elections, the BFF 
won 2.1% of the vote in Bonn and now plays a key role in the 
city council, supporting the city's CDU-Greens coalition, which 
relies on the BFF to bolster its narrow majority.  Yildiz 
confirmed that the BFF does not expect to cross the 5% threshold 
to win seats in the NRW state parliament in the May 2010 
elections, but believes it will win enough votes (at least 1%) 
to qualify to receive state funds for their party.   The BFF is 
banking on NRW's Muslim population (7% of NRW inhabitants) for 
support.  In addition to NRW, the BFF will also establish party 
organizations in the coming weeks in Berlin and Bavaria so it 
can contest state parliament elections coming up in both states 
in 2011 and 2013, respectively.  Yildiz said that ultimately, 
the BFF will work to establish party organizations in every 
German state in the coming years in order to take advantage of 
Germany's  growing Muslim population, which he claimed will grow 
to more than a quarter of the German population in the next 30 
years. 
 
 
 
BFF Has Moderate, Traditional Platform 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The main goal of the BFF, according to Yildiz, is to 
afford German Muslims the opportunity to become both politically 
and socially integrated in German society and to have a voice in 
German politics.  Yildiz noted that the BFF has faced political 
opposition.  For example, he said that the FDP in Bonn attempted 
to block BFF's participation in the city elections, claiming 
that it was creating a "parallel society" in Germany.  Yildiz 
dismissed this assertion, saying that the BFF was against 
"assimilation," which he described as where immigrants lose 
their identities.  He rather favors "integration", where 
immigrants become part of society without losing their 
identities.  He stressed that the BFF has no interest in 
creating a parallel society.  As Yildiz told Pol/Econ staff 
before the August 30, 2009 municipal elections, the party wants 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000003  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
to become the "defender and mouthpiece of the socially 
disadvantaged" in general, hoping to win support also from 
outside the Muslim community.  The focus in the platform on 
promoting families and women's rights confirm the moderate 
appeal of the party. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: Yildiz is an open and personable leader, who 
will likely become more engaged on the state and national levels 
as the BFF expands.  He is politically moderate and has 
expressed his concern about radicalism, on both the right and 
the left.  Interestingly, a natural coalition partner for the 
BFF appears to be the CDU, because of that party's traditional 
family-based values which are held by a majority of Muslims in 
NRW as well.  Yildiz expects that the BFF will eventually cross 
the 5% threshold -- not in 2010, but in the next NRW state 
parliament elections, likely to take place in 2015.  Even before 
then, however, the BFF is likely to become a more visible 
political force in Germany. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
WEINER