Erdoğan blames West for staying hesitant on Islamophobia

ANKARA

The Western World is hesitant to take measures against the growing threat of Islamophobia, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 6.

“Attacks on Muslims’ sacred values are being persistently disregarded under the pretext of freedom of thought. Projects like European Islam, French Islam, and Austrian Islam are being used simultaneously to pressure Muslims,” Erdoğan said, addressing a meeting with a delegation of the Union of International Democrats (UID).

“These projects, introduced under the cover of a fight against extremism, are aimed at cutting off European Muslims’ ties with their homelands and the Islamic ummah,” Erdoğan stated.

He emphasized that none of the “attacks targeting Turkey are coincidental” and that those who couldn’t subdue Turkey in Libya, Syria, the Aegean, the eastern Mediterranean, and most recently in Nagorno-Karabakh are now working to “sabotage Turkey through asymmetrical methods and baseless allegations and accusations.”

“This is one of the reasons behind the animosity against Turks and Muslims which has become more visible in Europe with the outbreak of COVID-19. We receive almost on daily basis news of the people who face attacks or see their rights usurped just because they are Turks and Muslims,” Erdoğan said.

Besides Muslims, other communities with different ethnicities, colors and faiths are also adversely affected by Neo-Nazi terror, he added.

Particularly acts that target mosques, workplaces, foundations and schools, etc. have reached incredible levels, Erdoğan said.

“Burning the Quran in Sweden, ripping it in Norway, and encouraging caricatures insulting our Prophet under the pretext of press freedom are just a few examples of the attacks targeting our sacred values,” he added.