PRESS RELEASE

04.09.2007

It was noticed from time to time that different Western media has adopted an antagonistic situations against Islam and that it paved the way for releasing an anti Islamic political and bureaucratic statements. Again it was noticed later, with profound regret, that these situations have gained an accelerated and uninterrupted nature. For this reason, the entire Moslems and the owners of common sense receive such activities which have no any relation with science, mentality and critical intellect and which attain the degree of insulting the sacred sensitivities with extreme grief and sorrow. It was realized in many occasions in the past that insulting the Islamic values had prorogated global crises and tensions between the two worlds and caused serious sorrows and sufferings which did not gain the consent of both sides.

It is no doubt that the situations which the West adopts from time to time have no any connection with testing the Moslems’ attitudes towards the freedom of press and expression for the reason that the public opinion in the world has witnessed that the main objective of these situations is to enlarge the extent of Islamophobia and has fed up with such situations. In spite of that, some of the focal points in the Western society are still continuing to insult and humiliate the Islamic values. The best example for this fact is the Swedish paper “ Nerikes Allehanda “ which ventured during the past few days to insult and humiliate the Prophet with expressions very difficult to be launched against any normal person. As if the world did not suffer from the crises which exacerbated as a result of the caricatures which aim at insulting and humiliating the Holy Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, and which was published by a Danish paper called “ Jyllans Posten” in September 30th,2005. These chains of events clearly manifest that the West will go on insulting and humiliating the Islamic values in different fashions and the world, as a result, will surly experience vast crises and tensions. The most regrettable point in this context is that the real aim of insulting and humiliating the Islamic values have strong relationship with prejudiced agendas and has no any link with concept disturbances concerning the” freedom of press and expression” between the two worlds.

As we clarified in previous statements, it will be very difficult to cast on a legal attribute for such insults and aggressions which aim at aggravating the reciprocal crises, animosities and hatreds by exploiting the freedoms which seize unspoiled connotations in human minds. The public opinion in the world is in need of an abrupt management and an international convention with legal commitments and sanctions for clarifying the boundaries between freedom of press and expression and insulting the religious values what ever it is from the one side and smoothing, at the same time, the points of intersection between them on the other. In this context, we would like to underline that the immediate necessity entails according a juristic dimension to the draft which was adopted by the Human Rights Commission at the United Nations due to the attempts of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in March 2007, which call upon the necessity of imposing a ban upon disseminating the ideas with the intention of insulting any religion or its followers and publicizing the ideas of racism and xenophobia which stimulate reciprocal violence and antagonism.

We appeal to the entire Moslems to follow a moderate and dignified stance and give up the whole practices which aim at using violence and offence while expressing their regret and disappointment due to the insults that approached their religious values because respecting their own religious values dictates respecting the values of other religions.

With deep respect and appreciation.

PRESIDENCY OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS