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German President Slams Anti-Islam Protests, Urges Tolerance in Xmas Speech

© REUTERS / Michael Sohn/PoolGerman President Joachim Gauck poses after the recording of the traditional Christmas message at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, December 22, 2014
German President Joachim Gauck poses after the recording of the traditional Christmas message at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, December 22, 2014 - Sputnik International
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German President Joachim Gauck criticized the recent anti-Islam protests in Dresden which gathered a record number of 17,000 people in his Christmas message.

Participants hold German national flags during a demonstration organised by anti-immigration group PEGIDA, a German abbreviation for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West, outside Semperoper opera house in Dresden December 22, 2014. - Sputnik International
Record Numbers Show Up for Anti-Islamization Rally in Germany
MOSCOW, December 24 (Sputnik) — German President Joachim Gauck criticized the recent anti-Islam protests in the country and called for tolerance in his Christmas message, Deutsche Welle reported Wednesday.

"Where we can contribute to maintaining peace or alleviating suffering so that we can build a better future, then we should do everything in our power to do so," Deutsche Welle quoted Gauck as saying.

The president added that he was encouraged by the fact that "The great majority of us do not follow those who want to seal off Germany."

Earlier on Wednesday, the German Federal Foreign Office posted on Twitter that the country's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also welcomed protests against the Pegida group, who oppose the "Islamization of the West".

On Monday, the right-wing group Pegida organized a demonstration in the city of Dresden, which gathered a record number of 17,000 people. The demonstration was the largest of a number of protests held over the past ten weeks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and several other officials have also condemned the Pegida group.

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