Davutoğlu warns against sectarian rifts in the region

SAKARYA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said yesterday Turkey should make its tradition, which embraces and respects all sects of Islam, sovereign in the region, where the risk of sectarian conflict seems to be high.

“Incidents in Syria, Iraq and Bahrain have shown that the political transformations which started as democratic movements could create inter-sectarian tension in the region,” said Davutoğlu, speaking at a conference in Sakarya province on the Directorate’s services abroad.

He said that Turkey was determined to do whatever it could to prevent possible tensions between Christians and Muslims in areas such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.

“It is significant that Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate will accept an action plan to minimize the sectarian tensions [in the region] by using our tradition of mutual respect for all sects.” Davutoğlu also said Turkey has increased the number of embassies from 12 to 34 in Africa.