Thousands of immigrants and Germans took to the streets Monday to protest against a right-wing populist group and its copycat anti-Islam movements in Germany.

Around 8,000 protesters attended a rally in the northwestern city of Cologne to protest the planned march of a recently formed anti-Islam group KOEGIDA, which was inspired by the Dresden-based movement, PEGIDA.

"We are standing here today because we do not want Cologne to concede to a handful of racists and anti-Islam groups," ethnic-Turkish lawmaker Arif Unal told the Anadolu Agency during the protest.

Bayram Mert, a Turkish immigrant, is worried over the growing number of verbal and physical attacks on immigrants and mosques in the country.
"We expect German and Turkish authorities to address these problems," Mert said.

Hundreds of left-wing activists blocked the Deutzer Bridge to prevent the march of some 250, mostly right-wing, protesters. The KOEGIDA protesters had to cancel their march and ended their demonstration earlier than planned.

The protest in Cologne, a city which has been a symbol of multicultural life in Germany, was supported by non-governmental organizations of Muslim and ethnic-Turkish immigrants, as well as German political parties, trade unions and even churches.

The Cologne Cathedral turned off its lights Monday night to protest the anti-Islam rally by the KOEGIDA movement.

The rise of the high-profile right wing group, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West or the PEGIDA, has recently made headlines in Germany and abroad. The group started weekly protests in Dresden in October with around 500 protesters, but significantly increased its support base within three months.
PEGIDA has inspired several copycat groups in other major German cities, like KOEGIDA in Cologne, HAGIDA in Hamburg and BAERGIDA in Berlin.

On Monday, more than 18,000 protesters attended PEGIDA’s rally in Dresden, marking the largest anti-Islam demonstration by the group.
Both anti-Islam movements and anti-fascist groups held protests in Berlin, Stuttgart, Muenster and Hamburg.

Germany witnessed an increase in suspicion and negative feelings towards Muslims in recent months as far right and right wing populist parties sought to benefit from a growing fear of Islam and Muslims.

Nearly 30 percent of Germans polled by Stern magazine said they believed anti-Islam demonstrations organized by the recently formed far-right PEGIDA were justifiable.

According to the poll conducted for Stern by the Forsa Institute and published online Thursday, 29 percent of Germans said that Islam was such a big influence on the daily lives of Germans that the recent anti-Islam demonstrations such as the ones organized by PEGIDA were justifiable.

A total of 13 percent of those polled also expressed a willingness to join the protests if they were organized in their cities.

PHOTO CAPTION

Members of the Centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) take part in a protest against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin January 5, 2015.

AA