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German president, chancellor Merkel to show solidarity with Muslims in rally for tolerance

Associated Press
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Two girls wave a Turkish and a German flag during a speech of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Berlin Monday, Jan. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/dpa, Joerg Carstensen) (The Associated Press)

President of Bundestag Norbert Lammer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German President Joachim Gauck, the chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, German Vice Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel and Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller, from left, attend a vigil organized by the German Muslim Council to commemorate the victims of the Paris terror attacks, in front of the Brandenburg Gate near the French embassy in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015. (AP Photo/John MacDougall, Pool) (The Associated Press)

President of Bundestag Norbert Lammer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German President Joachim Gauck, the chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek and German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, from left, attend a vigil organized by the German Muslim Council to commemorate the victims of the Paris terror attacks, in front of the Brandenburg Gate near the French embassy in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015. (AP Photo/John MacDougall, Pool) (The Associated Press)

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck are taking part in a rally for tolerance and against growing anti-Islam protests in Germany.

The event organized by Muslim groups will take place Tuesday evening near Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate.

It is intended as a response to the growing anti-Islam protests that have been taking place weekly in the eastern city of Dresden. On Monday, some 25,000 people took part in a rally there organized by the group Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA.

Merkel and Gauck have spoken out against PEGIDA, accusing it of seeking to divide German society and capitalizing on people's fears.

Germany has some 4 million Muslim residents, equivalent to about 5 percent of the population of 80 million.