"We will never allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights"

Speaking at an OIC meeting on hatred and intolerance against Muslims, President Erdoğan said: "We should increase the number of our stakeholders by raising the issue of Islamophobia at such platforms as the United Nations and the European Union."

"Most importantly, we should unite and act as one in matters that concern the Ummah’s permanence. Short-term interests shouldn't take precedence over medium and long-term interests on subjects that threaten the Islamic world’s and humanity's common future," he noted.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the “OIC Emergency Open-Ended Executive Committee Meeting at the Level of Foreign Ministers on the Terrorist Attack against Two Mosques in New Zealand and on Countering Hatred and Intolerance against Muslims” in Istanbul.

"We will never allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights"

Stressing that the OIC, as an international organization, is second only to the United Nations in terms of the number of the members, President Erdoğan recalled that the goal of the OIC is to work on issues that are of critical importance to the Islamic world.

"Lastly, the unfortunate statement U.S. President Trump made yesterday regarding the Golan Heights brought the region to the brink of a new crisis, a new tension."

"The Golan Heights has been under israel’s occupation since 1967. israel’s occupation in 1967 forced not only the Arabs but also the Turkmens in the region to migrate from their own lands."

"It is unthinkable for Turkiye and the OIC to remain silent and submit to faits accomplis on such a sensitive issue. We will never allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights."

"We should assume responsibility not only for ourselves but also for the future of our children"

"Unless we display a very strong reaction, the neo-Nazi virus will further spread to the body," President Erdoğan said.

"Unless we speak out, Western administrations will not bother to act. Unless we take a stand even at the cost of disturbing some others, attacks will get more unrestrained and racist fanatics will get wilder. And ultimately, God forbid, irreparable catastrophes will take place like what happened in the 1940s in Europe," he noted.

"So long as we don’t voice the truths even if they are bitter, western media outlets will continue to stir up Islamophobia and add fuel to the fire. We should thus bravely express the problems we see and should confront and seek solutions to them together. We should assume that responsibility not only for ourselves but also for the future of our children."

"Western media outlets should make a serious self-criticism"

President Erdoğan said: "We are now faced with a blatant Islamophobia and hatred for Muslims. This is an issue that is no longer limited only to the realm of politics, civil society, academic studies or research centers. This threat is now also an issue that concerns security units, statesmen and ordinary citizens. Just like DAESH, Al-Shabab and the PKK, neo-Nazi organizations, too, should be regarded as terrorist organizations and should be addressed that way."

"Just as the humanity combatted anti-Semitism after the Holocaust, it now should combat the rising Islamophobia with the same resolve, as well. The international community should show the same strong reaction to neo-Nazi attacks, as well, just as it does in the face of attacks by DAESH."

"That is so because they are two faces of the same coin. They all are parasites that feed off the blood of innocent people. Western media outlets, in particular, should make a serious self-criticism. Politicians that open the way to power for themselves by marginalizing the Muslims and demonizing the refugees should pay attention to their discourses."

“There are many steps we can take under the OIC”

Noting that there are many steps that can be taken under the OIC, President Erdoğan stated: "We have given coverage to the issue of Islamophobia in the 10-Year Action Plan."

"Yet, efforts exerted on this issue fall short of the necessary level. There is a need for a strong mechanism which would constantly monitor, detect and highlight hate crimes against Muslims. It is a must for the OIC to institutionally adapt itself to this asymmetric threat."

President Erdoğan added: "We should discuss here how we can make more effective use of the political, bureaucratic and civil society instruments that we have under the OIC, including the strengthening of the Independent Human Rights Committee."

"We should increase the number of our stakeholders by raising the issue of Islamophobia at such platforms as the United Nations and the European Union. Most importantly, we should unite and act as one in matters that concern the Ummah’s permanence. Short-term interests shouldn’t take precedence over medium and long-term interests on subjects that threaten the Islamic world’s and humanity’s common future." (ILKHA)