Mehmet Görmez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, has said that the prevalence of attacks targeting mosques and Muslim communities has been increasing year by year, and he criticized the Vatican and other religious foundations for remaining ineffective in preventing such attacks against Muslims. Speaking during an event on Tuesday organized by the Religious Affairs Directorate, which was recently placed under the authority of the prime minister, Görmez said there were 22 attacks on mosques in Germany from 2001 to 2012.