Ali Mete, Secretary General of the Islamic Community Millî Görüş (IGMG), made a statement after the far-right AfD won the district governorship of Sonneberg in the state of Thuringia.

“Sonneberg is not a warning; on the contrary, it should not have happened at all. This result shows that the politicians who have always catered to the right still do not understand the issue,” Mete said and added:

It is extremely unsettling that there is a region of Germany where one in two voters supported a party that is openly hostile to Islam. Since far-right, racist politicians have secured a majority, the Sonneberg election is not a warning but rather something that should never have happened. Because of this, Sonneberg demonstrates how democracy cannot be fulfilled mechanically but rather requires constant, vigilant defense against its adversaries.

We have to watch how politicians are working on the extreme right, how political discourse has moved even more to the right, and how they are partnering with right-wing extremists in order to gain political power, rather than seeing this trend for what it is.

Everyone involved in this fiasco is responsible. They have rendered racism mainstream, and racist people electable. Sonneberg should be an end, not a beginning. This is a clear task for all democratic forces. We are now urging everyone to reconsider their behavior and set their course in accordance with the fundamental principles of a free democratic society.

If we continue to move in this direction, we will experience destruction that will extend well beyond the Sonneberg region, a loss in values, as well as desensitization.