At least 13 non-governmental organizations of Muslim and ethnic-Turkish immigrants in Germany announced Thursday their joint decision to protest against the right-wing populist PEGIDA movement.

“We are calling on all citizens to join demonstration in Cologne on Jan. 5 and take a stance against racism, xenophobia, hatred against foreigners and hostility against Islam,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

“We will support all democratic initiatives and allies that oppose PEGIDA and other groups inspired by it,” the statement added. Germany's Muslim Coordination Council, a platform of four large Muslim organizations in the country, signed the joint statement along with associations representing Turkish-German businessmen, TUMSIAD and MUSIAD-NRW.

Union of European Turkish Democrats, one of the most influential organizations among Germany’s three million Turks, also backed the call for joining the counter-protests in Cologne, organized by a German citizen initiative supported by political parties, trade unions and church organizations.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/world/152070/muslims-to-protest-anti-islam-group-in-germany