One way or another, the 6th of October will fan the flames of the debate as to how to handle the identity of Muslims in Europe. The release date for the report detailing the extent of Turkey’s compliance with EU membership criteria marks a milestone on the road Turkey hopes will lead to its eventual inclusion as the first Muslim nation in the European Union. EUObserver reporter Lisbeth Kirk notes that the Dutch government will “play a central role” in the handling of negotiations preceding the December decision as to whether accession talks will begin with Ankara. The Dutch government currently holds the presidency of the European Union through the end of this year.

John Vinocur’s article today in the International Herald Tribune criticizes the lack of a “coherent, pan-European debate” regarding the “parameters for Islam’s possible integration” in Europe. At a time when Islam’s growing presence in Europe is viewed by many as a threat to European stability, Turkey’s current position in the spotlight presents a new and immediate opportunity for Europeans to address ways to integrate a culture which has been projected to dominate Europe by the end of the century. According to Princeton professor Bernard Lewis,

“Europe will be a part of the Arab West or Maghreb. Migration and demography indicate this. Europeans marry late and have few or no children. But there’s strong immigration: Turks in Germany, Arabs in France and Pakistanis in England. At the latest, following current trends, Europe will have Muslim majorities in the population by the end of the 21st century.”

In the cover story for the Religion and Ethics Newsweekly for PBS, reporter Saul Gonzalez describes some of the concerns raised by Islam in Holland, a nation noted for its “reputation for tolerance.” The increasing visibility of Muslims in Holland, paired with growing hostilities and misunderstandings between Muslims and non-Muslims, indicates the need to address the presence of Islam with an aim toward integration, though Rotterdam City Councilman Barry Madlener voices a common protest that often, immigrants resist assimilation to their host culture:

“[Many Muslims living in Europe] really reject a western lifestyle and we think that is very strange, because if you don’t want to have a western lifestyle, you shouldn’t come here. So they come here and they want to claim their lifestyle and we are of course a liberal society. But when the children of these people cannot fit into our society, then the problems will grow.”

Social commentator Samira Abbos echoes Madlener’s concern, though she hails from the opposite perspective:

“I don’t want to be tolerated in this country. I have lived here for 32 years. I’m a citizen of Holland. I want to be accepted … What I see here in Holland that is very important is that a generation of Dutch Muslims is coming up. Dutch Muslims who say, ‘I want to be Dutch and Muslim here in Holland. Give us the freedom!’”

Mirjam Dittrich, writer for the European Policy Centre, describes a proposal by Tariq Ramadan for the integration of Muslims into European society by “breaking down the ‘us versus them’ mentality” in favor of a ‘third way’ which allows Muslims to be “at the same time fully Muslim and fully Western.” Essential to this “Euro-Islam” is that Muslims “should view western democracy as ‘a model respecting [their] principles rather than seeing it as anti-Islamic.’”

Is European identity in jeopardy, or will it be responsible for promoting tolerance of a culture which continues to be commonly misunderstood despite its uninterrupted presence in world media? When Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man, spoke in Germany two weeks ago, he urged Europe to “stop being intimidated about using its right to defend its own humanist culture,” stating: “There is a European culture. It’s subscribing to a broader culture of tolerance. It’s not unreasonable for European culture to say, ‘You have to accept this.’”