Source: London Daily Telegraph
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070625/FOREIGN/106250024/1001
COLOGNE, Germany — The construction of one of Europe's biggest mosques near a globally famous Christian landmark has sparked a furious dispute in Germany.
Immigration and integration are extremely sensitive issues in Germany, which is home to a Turkish community of several million.
But almost within the shadow of Cologne Cathedral, political correctness was replaced by bitter confrontation, as the city's Muslims began building a 2,000-capacity mosque whose twin minarets will reach 170 feet.
"Muslims have been here for 40 years, yet people are praying in back rooms," said Seyda Can, an Islamic theologian at the Turkish Islamic Union in Cologne. "There are 120,000 Muslims in Cologne, that's 12 percent of the population. We should not hide."
Work will begin this fall on the $30 million mosque, which will include huge glass and stone cupolas and two six-story minarets.
Ms. Can, who speaks fluent German, is an eloquent advocate for the mosque, arguing that when completed in 2009, it will aid the integration of a population sometimes regarded as outsiders. "With this mosque, Muslims will no longer think of their old countries as their home, but of Germany," she said.