ZAGREB – The Croatian government marked on Wednesday, April 27, the 100th anniversary of the country’s recognition of Islam as an official faith equal to Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy in the European country. Marking the anniversary, the Croatian parliament will hold a special session Wednesday and numerous organizations will hold events in capital Zagreb, Anadolu Agency reported. The decision to recognize Islam officially came during a parliamentary session held on April 27, 1916. Along with official celebrations, the European Islamic Society Conference will hold discussions on the current situation of Islam in Europe. The participants will include heads of states, ministers as well as religious leaders. Croatia’s move to organize an international conference on Islam was praised as admirable at a time when Islamophobia is widespread. Religious Affairs Directorate head Mehmet Gormez, who arrived at Croatia’s capital Zagreb to attend the European Islamic Society Conference, praised Croatia for organizing the event. Later, he evaluated recent developments related to Islam in Europe. “Europe justifying its existence, its existence as a union without Islam is not correct. It has not been correct either scientifically or historically,” said Gormez. Gormez said that civilizations must stand with the common values of humanity. “I do not say that Muslims of the Andalusian civilization established in Spain wakened up Europe from the dogmatic slumber of the Middle Ages. All scholars say that. Thus, here is the experience of the Andalusians, Ottomans, and the immigrants who came from various parts of the Islamic world in the past 100 years and call themselves Europeans. “After all these facts, Europe seeing Islam as an afterthought element that came into its territory, and treating all these Muslims as migrants and refugees, and seeing their existence as a security issue is one of the most important issues to be discussed today,” he added. Islam was introduced to the region by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Roman Catholics represent 86 percent of the country’s population, followed by Orthodox Christians at 4.4 percent and Muslims at 1.5 percent, i.e. about 63,000 people. Croatia declared its independence during the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991 and was internationally recognized in January 1992. Since 2013, Croatia is a member of the European Union.