President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is in New York for the 74^th session of the United Nations General Assembly, delivered a speech at the High-Level Round Table on "Countering Hate Speech", a side event co-hosted by Turkey and Pakistan.

“Hate speech is the most common instrument of globally-rising Islamophobia”

Conveying his condolences to Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan and the Pakistani people for the earthquake that took place in Pakistan’s Azad Kashmir region yesterday, President Erdoğan said: "Turkey stands ready to deliver all kinds of assistance Pakistan needs."

"Hate speech is the most common instrument of globally-rising Islamophobia, populism, racism, and xenophobia," President Erdoğan said, noting that such discourses become more and more normal and ordinary every hour of every day on social media, TV programs and politicians’ statements.

"It should be kept in mind that in the gravest crime against humanity from Holocaust to Bosnia, from Rwanda to Myanmar, the footsteps of hate speech were heard first," he said.

"No one held to account the West who committed the massacres in Rwanda. Millions were killed there but no one said 'How could you commit such a massacre?' to the West."

“Muslims are the most subjected to hate speech and insults to sacred values”

"The international community has not learned the necessary lessons from these sorrowful experiences, recorded in the history of humanity as dark stains," President Erdoğan said.

He underscoring that the attack against two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand revealed the perilous extent of the problem.

Describing the incident as an expression of malicious, deep-seated hatred grudge and obsession toward Muslims, President Erdoğan thanked the people of New Zealand, who displayed an exemplary attitude with their solidarity in the aftermath of the terror attack.

President Erdoğan underlined that Muslims are the most subjected to hate speech, cultural racism, discrimination and insults to sacred values.

"As a country, which has 6.5 million citizens abroad who are impacted by hate speech and attacks, we cannot turn a blind eye to this issue. I hereby once again condemn hate speech, which is tried to be normalized by populist politicians and media," he added.

"Kashmir turned into an open-air prison"

President Erdoğan stated that in India, Muslim youth are being whipped, beaten by machetes and even sentenced to death just for eating beef, which cannot be defended.

"At the moment, Kashmir has virtually turned into an open-air prison. People there are prisoners in this open-air prison. Entering and exiting are virtually forbidden. I cannot imagine what kind of bloody actions will take place in that region in the future. I neither want to understand nor to tell about it."

President Erdoğan also underscored that the first step against hate speech is education.

Turkish President pointed to the Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites by the Alliance of Civilizations. "We support the idea to establish a database at the UN on hate speech. We also propose to establish a platform within the UN where victims of hate speech can quickly file a complaint and the said complaint is followed upon."

"We as Turkey will continue to spearhead all efforts to actively fight against rising Islamophobia, racism and hate speech."

Harshly opposing phrases such as "Islamist terror" or "Islamic terror", President Erdoğan said: "Islam is the religion of peace. It would be a huge slander and immoral act to associate Islam, which is the religion of peace, with terrorism." (ILKHA)