World Muslim Minorities Summit Continued
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım
In his speech during the opening session of the summit, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım greeted the participants and shared his wish that the Three Holy Months may bring peace, tranquillity, and unity to the entire Islamic world.
Expressing his willingness to cooperate with the participants in identifying the basic problems, proposing solutions to them, and finding opportunities for cooperation, Prime Minister Yıldırım said, "We will further our acquaintance with each other, and have the opportunity to renew our neglected fraternal ties. We will have the chance to establish cooperation and improve existing activities for cooperation. I would like to thank all of you for your contribution at the Summit and hope that this event will be instrumental for goodness for all our Muslim brothers and sisters and the family of humanity."
Prime Minister Yıldırım stated that the minority problem was a global issue and that Muslims were very closely and directly concerned, and said:
"Today, about one-third of the world's Muslim population is treated as a minority in the countries they live in. The worst problem Muslim minorities are facing is the rise of anti-Islamism in the West, or Islamophobia and anti-minority issues. Islamophobia is a human rights problem rather than a religion-caused problem. The baseless fear towards Muslims, enmity and hate rhetoric is one of the contemporary reflections of Islamophobia, racism and xenophobia.
“With this definition, Islamophobia should be regarded and assessed as a particular kind of racism, which includes many historical, sociological, and political causes just like antisemitism. As a particular kind of discrimination, Islamophobia is on the focus related to many issues among others, such as freedom of religion, right to work, right to education, and freedom of speech.
“The hate rhetoric driven by enmity against Islam and social exclusion threaten societal harmony, multiculturalism, and coexistence. Human rights and democratic values are being crumpled every day because of Islamophobia. That being the case, dimensions of rising extremism in Europe and anti-Islamism will reach even graver levels if necessary steps are not taken,” Yıldırım concluded. [Ministry of Religious Affairs Report]
Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly İsmail Kahraman
Noting that a total of 1.8 billion Muslims is a great power, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly İsmail Kahraman said, "Wiles and decoys are yielding results to prevent this great power from coming together. We should be aware of that and we should strengthen our unity."
Kahraman said there would be no problem that cannot be solved if Islamic countries acted with awareness of unity and solidarity.
Expressing that there are ongoing plots to achieve artificial divisions in the Islamic world, Kahraman said, "There are 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, and it is the result of these wiles and decoys to prevent the gathering of this great power. We should be aware of this, and strengthen our unity."
Emphasizing that there was no notion of minority in Islam, Kahraman continued, “Our religion is based on the principle of 'we love the created for the sake of the creator.' In our religion there is no discrimination based on race, religion, or color. This has been reversed in states other than Islamic ones and the concept of minorities has been acted upon to foster colonialism. In the Farewell Sermon, it was said, “Indeed, there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor of a non-Arab over an Arab. All human beings are the offspring of Adam, and Adam is of earth. Listen to my words and ponder upon this, each Muslim is a brother to other Muslims.” In Arakan, in Palestine and in other regions, persecutions and prosecutions of minorities are upsetting all of us. It is possible for us to solve problems side by side, altogether in unity." [Ministry of Religious Affairs Report]
Online Magazine launched in 2003
Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
