The Turkish President said that the strategy of “demonizing Muslims” launched by the US government after the attacks of 9/11 had sparked the virus of Islamophobia that was present in the cultural structure of many societies.
-Advertisement-
“Hostility to Islam in many parts of the world, and especially in Western countries, is spreading like cancerous tumors.
He added, “Highlighting the role of some racial groups that were described in the past as extremists in the political scene of Western countries shows that the West is diving deeper into them than trying to escape.”
Erdogan said that the strategy of “demonizing Muslims” launched by the US government after the attacks of September 11, sparked the Islamophobia virus that had spread in the cultural fabric of many societies.
The Turkish president said, the Western governments responsible for ensuring the security of all their citizens entered into competition with Islam.
He added, “Those who turn their backs on the fact that restricting freedoms means limiting prosperity in the long run, they are in fact not anti-Islam, but rather anti-future.”
Erdogan said: “We know very well that Westerners themselves underestimate this new racism against Muslims as “hatred of Islam”, but what is really being done is hostility to Islam.
He said, “We must say to every 7.5 billion people in the world that Islam is not a threat, but Islamophobia is a threat to the world.”
-Advertisement-
Throughout the centuries, Europe, using its intellectual class, spread hostility to the Turks, who in the eyes of Europeans are equal with Islam in their societies, and succeeded in covering up and minimizing its problems.
He also stressed the importance of combating Islamophobia:
“Efforts to prevent Islamophobia, which is vital to the peace and security of all humankind, must be pursued through mechanisms of shared thought.”
The first press conference on Islamophobia was held in Ankara on Tuesday 25 May with the participation of many Turkish institutions and universities, as well as local and foreign experts.
