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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Mayor says no more mosques in Moscow |
| 2013-03-03 |
| The mayor of Moscow says there are no plans to build a new mosque in the city, and says the "excessive" number of economic migrants was a "harmful thing". Sergey Sobyanin said, "It has turned out that the praying Muslims are not all Russian citizens and they are not Moscow residents. They are labor migrants. There are only 10 percent of Moscow residents among them and building mosques for everyone who wants it - I think this will be over the top." The mayor continued, "Muscovites now get irritated by people who speak a different language, have different manners, with aggressive behavior. This is not purely ethnic, but this is connected with some ethnic traits." At the same time, Sobyanin explained that there are no ethnic enclaves in the city and expressed the hope that such enclaves would not ever appear as closed districts like that those that usually have a very high crime rate. Russian Muslims did not welcome the Mayor SobyaninÂ’s statement. Co-chairman of the Councils of Muftis of Russia, Nafigulla Ashirov said that Muslims did not agree with SobyaninÂ’s plans and that they would, should the need arise, address President Putin with a request for help. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 Uh, coming to find work? That'd be the growth side of the picture, I'd hope... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2013-03-03 12:14 |
| #3 Yep. Like those Americans coming up to Canada to find work... |
| Posted by: Muggsy Speaking for Boskone5119 2013-03-03 11:16 |
| #2 Yes. When "economic migrant" = "comes to leech off the existing economy, rather than contribute to its growth," they should be unwelcome regardless of where or how or who / what they worship... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2013-03-03 10:21 |
| #1 The mayor of Moscow says there are no plans to build a new mosque in the city, and says the "excessive" number of economic migrants was a "harmful thing". I think Sergey may be on to something. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-03 02:14 |