OIC calls for genuine steps against Islamophobia

[ahlam1399]

ISTANBUL: Muslim nations on Friday called for “genuine” measures against Islamophobia after the attack on two New Zealand mosques last week that killed 50 people.Violence driven by Islamophobia requires “genuine, comprehensive and systematic measures to address this affliction,” ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said in a statement after an emergency meeting in Istanbul.The OIC said attacks against mosques and murders of Muslims showed the “brutal, inhumane and horrific outcomes” of hatred of Islam. It called for countries with Muslim communities, minorities or migrants to refrain from “statements and practices that associate Islam with terror, extremism and threats” to society.During the March 15 attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant killed 50 men, women and children—the victims aged between three and 77 years old—and left dozens injured. The self-avowed white supremacist livestreamed much of the attack and spread a manifesto on social media claiming it was a strike against Muslim “invaders”.Speaking at the emergency meeting of ministers from the OIC, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the world to fight back against Islamophobia in the same way it responded to “anti-Semitism after the Holocaust”.The Turkish leader has presented the New Zealand mosque attacks as part of a wider assault on Islam and demands the West do more against anti-Muslim sentiment. “Just as humanity fought against anti-Semitism after the Holocaust disaster, it should fight against rising Islamophobia in the same determined fashion,” Erdogan said. “Right now we are facing Islamophobia and Muslim hatred,” he added. New Zealand’s government reassured Muslims living in the country they would be “safe and secure” despite the deadly attacks in Christchurch. “Ensuring Muslim communities in New Zealand feel safe and secure is a particular focus,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told the OIC meeting.Peters said New Zealand authorities would make sure “no stone stays unturned” in the prosecution of the attacker. “This person will face the full force of New Zealand law and spend the rest of his life in isolation in a New Zealand prison,” he said.Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu praised New Zealand authorities and their “sincere solidarity messages”, saying: “We are here to show we are one body against Islamophobic actions across the world”.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/3LIYU0uaUMc

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