Erdoğan blasts West over Islamophobia

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again taken aim at the West over Islamophobia, suggesting it is “using anti-Islamic sentiments to reinforce its own ideology and lifestyle.”

“There are efforts to degrade and defame Islam, which is the only religion that offers genuine solutions to the modern world’s problems. The West tries to put certain labels on Islam through certain ‘project’ terrorist groups. Those are terrorist groups that have emerged lately,” Erdoğan said in a speech on April 16 at the World Muslim Minorities’ Summit in Istanbul.

Muslims have faced “multi-sided, multi-layered attacks since the 9/11 terror attacks,” he stated.

“Terrorist acts by herds of killers such as DEASH, Boko Haram, al-Shabbab, and the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization [FETÖ] have hurt Muslims and also give opportunities to anti-Islamic circles,” Erdoğan said.

“The innocence of Muslims slaughtered by those organizations is overlooked and our religion and the believers of Islam are held responsible for those atrocities,” he added.

Members of the Turkish Parliament’s subcommittee to investigate “Islamophobia” in Western countries had met with representatives of Turkish non-governmental organizations in Berlin earlier this month.

Ömer Serdar, the head of parliament’s Human Rights Committee, expressed his disturbance over the association of Muslims with terror.

“Recent developments, especially the rise in terror groups that define themselves with Islam, have contributed to this association,” Serdar said, adding that many people in Europe have a fear of refugees coming from the Middle East.

“We are not looking for a scapegoat. Let’s reveal the aftermath of these [Islamophobic] events together … There are 25 million Muslims living in Europe,” he also said.