20/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - Launched a few months ago by the NGO, Cojep International, the competition for the most beautiful minaret in Europe has allowed the edifice erected in 2009 at the mosque in Bradford (UK) to be designated. Considering this brings the mosques out into the open and gives them the necessary visibility to bring transparency to the way Islam works in Europe, Veysel Filliz, a member of the NGO, explained that the idea of the competition took hold after the popular vote against minarets in Switzerland. It is not a matter of opposing the vote but of seeking to defuse fears and prejudices, he said, speaking in Strasbourg on Tuesday 20 April. Fifty-three photos from 13 countries were entered for the competition that only concerned minarets built during the past 50 years, as they symbolise the developing needs for places of worship for immigrant populations. (A.B./transl.jl)