Malaysia and Türkiye agree to condemn Islamophobia in the West

  President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned the increasing trend of Islamophobia, the recent burning of Korans and populist discourse that fuels hate speech. Reported in Daily Sabah in a joint statement issued after a meeting of leaders in New York on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly, the leaders also expressed concern over the emergence of a new form of racism characterized by xenophobia, negative profiling and stereotyping of Muslims . Both of them strongly condemned the recent incidents of burning copies of the Koran which occurred in several European countries under the guise of freedom of expression as well as populist discourse that incited harassment, hate speech and aggression against Islam and Muslims.

Presidents Erdogan and Ibrahim also expressed deep concern regarding the increasing trend of hatred, intolerance, discrimination and acts of violence against Muslims and their sanctity which has reached alarming levels in many parts of the world, especially in Europe. The leaders said they welcomed the adoption of General Assembly Resolution 76/254 declaring March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, as well as the urgent debate during the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council. They discussed the alarming increase in the number of planned and public acts of religious hatred. As happened with the repeated desecration of the Koran and the adoption of a UN Human Rights Council resolution defining the burning of the holy book as hatred of religion. The leaders welcomed General Assembly Resolution 77/318 on Promoting Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in Combating Hate Speech adopted on 25 July.

 According to the statement, Erdogan and Ibrahim also underlined that acts of religious hatred, racism, discrimination and xenophobia constitute a threat to peace and fuel a culture of violence. The leaders further called on all relevant stakeholders, including governments, to step up efforts to address discrimination, xenophobia, racism and hate speech in line with international human rights. Since the beginning of this year, the incessant burning of Al-Qurans in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, under the pretext of freedom of opinion, has sparked widespread protests in Muslim countries, including attacks on diplomatic missions. The Danish and Swedish governments condemned the burning and are considering new laws that could stop the burning. But domestic critics say such a decision would undermine freedom of speech. Muslims view the Qur'an as the true word of God and desecration of the holy book is a highly offensive act, giving rise to protests in the Muslim world.