President Erdoğan: Strong communication network needed against Islamophobia
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the 1st International Symposium on Media and Islamophobia in Ankara.
“The issue we are faced with is not Islamophobia or fear of Islam, but outright hostility towards Islam,” President Erdoğan said, underlining that the malady of Islamophobia was spreading rapidly across the world like a cancer cell.
“The strategy of "demonizing Muslims" launched by the American administration after the 9/11 attacks served to trigger the virus of hostility towards Islam that already existed in the cultural structure of many societies,” President Erdoğan said.
“Today, certain countries in Europe, led by France, are exerting intense efforts to reshape Islam in line with their own dispositions,” President Erdoğan noted. “The Western countries are trying to weather the uncertainties, caused by the changing balances of power, by stalling their own public with fascist rhetoric.”
“THE RACIST AND ISLAMOPHOBIC ATTACKS HAVE INCREASED BY 250 PER CENT IN THE WEST”
“Those, who had for long placed themselves at a distinguished position in the world as a bulwark of religious freedoms, are now vying with each other to ban all kinds of symbols that belong to Muslims,” President Erdoğan underlined.
“The racist and Islamophobic attacks have increased by 250 per cent in the West over the past five years, and the number of people who have lost their lives in these attacks has increased by 700 per cent. Also, over 15 thousand Islamophobic incidents have been reported over the past five years to civil society institutions in the largest 5 countries in the EU. These attacks, targeting citizens living in Europe, have increased by 54 percent compared to last year,” President Erdoğan said.
“RACISM AGAINST MUSLIMS IS SOUGHT TO BE SOFTENED BY NAMING IT ISLAMOPHOBIA”
“This new racism against Muslims is sought to be softened by naming it Islamophobia. However, it is actually hostility towards Islam. Those, who used to legitimize hostility towards Islam by using the label of ‘Islamic terror” are now targeting all Muslims without discrimination,” President Erdoğan underscored.
“EFFORTS TO PREVENT HOSTILITY TOWARDS ISLAM SHOULD BE CONDUCTED VIA SHARED WISDOM MECHANISMS”
Underlining that we should urge all the conscientious politicians, intellectuals, media members and clerics across the world to take action against the malady of hostility towards Islam, President Erdoğan said: “It is a must for all the societies and countries that face this threat to come together and establish a strong communication network in the international arena. Efforts to prevent hostility towards Islam, which are of vital importance for the peace and safety of the entire humanity, should be conducted via shared wisdom mechanisms.”
