EMISCO Press Release, Ankara 17/18.02.2011

EMISCO Press Release

Strasbourg, 21 February 2011

EMISCO Presseaussendung über ein Symposium in Ankara und Treffen mit dem türkischen Präsident Abdullah Gul. Beide österreichische Vorstandsmitglieder Banu Kutulan und Tarafa Baghajati haben im Symposium referiert und haben  an den Meetings aktiv teilgenommen. Weitere Detailinformationen über das Symposium und Fotos sind unter: http://www.emisco.com/ zu finden.

Vielen Dank und herzliche Grüße  

Tarafa Baghajati, baghajati [at] aon.at 

Vorstandsmitglied von EMISCO: European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion   

On 18th February 2011, representatives of two European organizations EMISCO and COJEP International were received by the President of Turkey, His Excellency Abdullah Gul to discuss the rising tide of Islamophobia in Europe and to seek Turkish government's moral support in combating it. The delegation pointed out that the promotion of social cohesion is becoming an increasingly critical matter. The previous day, Bulent Arinc, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister received the delegation. Both leaders were very appreciative of the constructive work these NGOs were doing in the field of social cohesion of Muslim communities in Europe and emphasized that a democratic Europe will be best served if its societies were truly inclusive.

Besides these two important meetings both organizations co-sponsored an international symposium in Ankara, titled; "21 Century Europe - Challenges and Opportunities". A comprehensive array of topics was addressed by a host of experts from various countries. Prof. Ibrahim Kalin, Advisor to the Turkish Prime Minister Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dwelled on "Ethnic Minorities in Europe from an NGO Perspective".

In his keynote address, President of EMISCO and UN Special Rapporteur on Combating Racism (2002-2008) Mr. Doudou Diene talked about the recent political developments in the Arab world, which were leading the region towards democracy. He also stressed Turkey's success in demonstrating that Islam is compatible with democracy and respect for human rights.

Mr. Diene also advised the West that Islamophobic sentiment, misconceptions about Islam and the theory of Clash of Civilizations should be deconstructed, because at the heart of these theories lie the notion that Islam is a threat against national identities and national security, especially after 9/11. The only way to end this is to promote interaction between Islam and other religions and Muslim communities becoming more visible.

For further information, please contact:

Bashy Quraishy, Secretary General
Veysel Filiz, Spokesperson
Email: contact [at] emisco.com
www.emisco.com

PS (Deutsch): Deutschsprachige Anfragen bitte an Tarafa Baghajati baghajati [at] aon.at