‘I am called a dictator because I spoke up against tyrants,’ says Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

AA photo

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said the reason why he is called a dictator by some members of the international community is because he speaks up against tyrants, repeating his messages of solidarity and unity against ongoing wars in the Muslim world.  

“How can one who does not listen to the voices of millions of Muslim children who have been killed in Syria regard himself a follower of the Prophet?” Erdoğan said at a ceremony marking the birth of Prophet Muhammed on April 22.

“You must have seen the father who was holding his deceased twins after the chemical attack [in Syria]. How long will those villains continue their cruelties without paying the price? What are we called just because we speak against them? They call us dictator. Let them say that. We will continue to raise our voices against them. Because our Prophet preaches ‘consent to cruelty is cruelty,’” he said.

“In a world where consent to cruelty is cruelty, we cannot tell them ‘you are doing well, continue,’” he added.

He called on the Muslim world to show solidarity among each other. 

“The Prophet preaches: ‘if you see injustice, fix it with your hand; if your power is not sufficient, warn with your tongue; if your power is insufficient, exclude them with your heart,” he said.

“If we believe that we are a valuable ummah among the people, then we have to do what is necessary. We have to take our steps according to this. How long will we watch? Are we able to share our one cup of soup with them? Can we present this to them? We cannot afford to be negligible anymore. We have to do what is necessary,” he added. 

“The unresponsiveness of the Islamic world over Muslims being belittled cruelly by other groups that call themselves Muslim or other belief groups is truly saddening,” he said.

“We will try to fix all those wrongs that we see with our hands, and at places that we cannot reach with our tongue,” he said.