Prime Minister "Mas-Com-Ya" ErdoganAccording to a statement issued by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this week, "Islamophobia is a crime against humanity just like anti-Semitism".
The ironies of Erdogan's statements are numerous. The equation of that chimeric phenomenon known as "Islamophobia" with antisemitism is self-evidently ridiculous, but more glaring is Erdogan's apparent self-deception, given the fact that his own country, and indeed his own good self, is full of bigoted antisemitism.
The Turkish media is rife with Jew-hatred conflating Judaism with Zionism and making ahistorical accusations against the Jews (see here, here and here), none of which has ever been condemned by Erdogan. What's more, Erdogan himself wrote, directed and starred in a theatrical play entitled "Mas-Com-Ya" ("Masons-Communists-Yahudi [Jews]"), which was staged all over Turkey in the 1970s. The play focused, according to historian Rifat N. Bali, on "the 'evil' nature of these three concepts, and the hatred towards them."
Also during his statements earlier in the week, Erdogan is reported to have said: "Islam means peace, and it cannot tolerate terrorism. We reject all attempts to link Islam with terrorism.” One must assume, then, that his first target for opprobrium must be the many thousands of Muslims around the world who are currently linking Islam with terrorism.
Why are you laughing?
Finally, the report notes:
The agency noted that Erdoğan also called on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Arab League and all concerned parties to present a unified front to help end Islamophobia.
But not, you'll note, to end terrorism committed in the name of Islam.
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