OIC should fight Islamophobia: Turkish sports minister

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

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Youth and Sports Minister Akif Çağatay Kılıç said on Oct. 6 that members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should work together to fight Islamophobia.

“As OIC members, it is our duty to fight such defamation. Our noble religion, Islam, can in no way be mentioned alongside terrorism,” Kılıç said at the third OIC Youth and Sports Ministers Conference in Istanbul. 

Saying there are “some who want to see Muslim countries slip into social and political chaos,” he stressed that they should especially be on guard against malicious attempts to “negatively influence young people.”  
      
“Islam supports all victims and oppressed peoples without regard to religion, language, or race and always takes a stand against tyrants,” Kılıç added, expressing pride that Istanbul is hosting the conference.    
   
Founded in 1969, the OIC, with a current membership of 57 states, is an international organization working to protect the interests of the Muslim world “in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony.”
       
It is the second-largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.

“The organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world,” the OIC states.  
      
Turkey has been a member of the organization since 1969.