ANKARA 

Turkish officials on Sunday harshly criticized rising Islamophobia in Europe in response to Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders tweeting an insulting cartoon of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Immoral, antihuman and fascist...,” Omer Celik, the spokesperson of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, wrote on Twitter in response to the post, along with the hashtag #TerroristGeertWilders.

“While fascists like Geert Wilders attack our president, their intention is to shed the blood of the oppressed in Syria and Libya, and to commit Hitler's cruelty to the Jews in Europe to Muslims,” he said. “Our president is not allowing this fascism."

“We will fight against these fascists. We will raise this struggle in the name of humanity. The struggle of our president, which does not allow these fascists, is the struggle with the enemies of humanity,” he added.

Wilders, known for his anti-Islam stance, is the chairman of the Party for Freedom (PVV), and was found guilty of insulting a minority group during his 2014 election campaign in September.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also denounced racism in Europe.

“When truth spoken to their faces Europe's loser racists showed up again. Trying to exploit Islamophobia and xenophobia. Time has come to stop Europe’s spoiled politicians with fascist mindset,” Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.

Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, also took to Twitter to slam Islamophobia.

“Europe is an increasingly dangerous place for Muslims. The dog whistle politics of offensive caricatures, accusations of separatism against Muslims, and mosque raids isn’t about freedom of expression,” Altun tweeted.

“It’s about intimidating and reminding Muslims that they are welcome to keep the European economy going, but they will never belong — against the backdrop of lectures about integration."

“Everything we see about Muslims in European public culture today is eerily familiar to the demonization of the European Jewry in the 1920s,” Altun said. “Some European leaders today do not just target Muslims in their midst. They attack our sacred values, our scripture, our prophet and our political leaders — our way of life."

He said Europe’s hostility toward Muslims and efforts to "discipline" them is inseparable from the increasingly widespread hostility "toward Islam, Turkey and our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan."

“Here’s what those Europeans need to understand: Muslims won’t go away because you don’t want us. We won’t turn the other cheek when you insult us. We will defend ourselves and our own at all costs,” he said.

Erdogan has warned that Europe is preparing its own end amid rising hatred towards Muslims and Islam across the continent.

His remarks came after French President Emmanuel Macron accused Muslims of "separatism" and described Islam as "a religion in crisis all over the world."/aa

Iran's parliament speaker condemned on Sunday the publishing of insulting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in France.

"The stubborn and unwise French officials offend the Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] and stoke anti-Islam stance in the world," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf tweeted. "Muslims and believers all condemn the abhorrent hostility of France's leaders towards the messenger of mercy, Muhammad."

Besides the provocative cartoons, earlier this month French President Emmanuel Macron described Islam as a religion "in crisis," and announced plans for tougher laws to tackle what he called "Islamist separatism" in France.

French Muslims have accused him of trying to repress their religion, and legitimizing Islamophobia.

Several Arab countries, Turkey and Pakistan have also condemned Macron's attitude toward Muslims and Islam, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying the French leader needs "mental treatment."/aa

KARACHI, Pakistan 

The Pakistani prime minster has added his voice to the growing criticism of the French president for "encouraging Islamophobia" following the killing of a teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils.

"Hallmark of a leader is he unites human beings... rather than dividing them. This is a time when President [Emmanuel] Macron could have put healing touch, and denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarisation and marginalisation that inevitably leads to radicalization," Imran Khan said in a series of tweets on Sunday.

"It is unfortunate that he has chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists."

Sadly, he added, Macron has chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims, including his own citizens, through encouraging the display of blasphemous cartoons targeting Islam, and Prophet Muhammad.

By attacking Islam, Khan said, Macron clearly without having any understanding of it, has attacked and hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims in Europe and across the world.

"The last thing the world wants or needs is further polarisation. Public statements based on ignorance will create more hate, Islamophobia and space for extremists."

Earlier this month, Macron described Islam as a religion "in crisis," and announced plans for tougher laws to tackle what he called "Islamist separatism" in France.

French Muslims have accused him of trying to repress their religion, and legitimizing Islamophobia.

Opposition joins protest

Several Pakistani opposition leaders also slammed Macron for "hurting the sentiments" of Muslims across the globe.

"Today, when millions of Muslims across the world are preparing to celebrate the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, events in France have hurt their sentiments," Maryam Nawaz, the vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, a key opposition party, said while addressing a huge rally in southwestern Quetta city.

The rally was organized by an 11-party opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement against Khan-led government.

Referring to Macron's support to the repeated publication of blasphemous caricatures, and anti-Islam remarks, Maryam, who's the daughter of three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif, said Pakistanis "condemn and reject" the smear campaign.

Former opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman also condemned Macron for his "derogatory" remarks, which "could instigate the Muslim youth" across the world in the defense of Prophet Muhammad.

Sirajul Haq, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's mainstream religious party, meanwhile, called for summoning of an urgent session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the issue.

"The honor of Prophet Muhammad PBUH is the most precious belonging of every Muslim and its defense is an article of Islamic faith and love for the Prophet. The display of caricatures on buildings in France must be unequivocally condemned by Muslim leadership," he said in a tweet late Saturday.

Shireen Mazari, Pakistan's human rights minister, termed the rising Islamophobia in France "state-sponsored."

"From banning niqab (veil) even during COVID-19, when masks seen as necessary to insisting blasphemous cartoons are freedom of expression, when questioning or criticizing holocaust is banned, French Islamophobia is endemic and sadly encouraged by state. Muslims can't wear religious attire," she tweeted.

Protest in Bangladesh

Bangadeshi youths also protested against the French government's support to provocation against Islam, calling for "boycott of French goods." 

The Islamic Youth Movement, a religious group, staged a rally in the capital Dhaka. They rejected the "provocative activities" in the name of freedom, pushing for cutting of diplomatic ties with France.

A virtual campaign on platforms including Facebook and Twitter has also gained momentum.

“Promoting hate speech against any religion or community isn't freedom of speech,” Hasan Al Mahmud, one of the participants in the online campaign, told Anadolu Agency. “The boycott is a non-violent protest but has a wide socio-cultural significance."

Meanwhile, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, a religious party, announced it will hold a protest outside the French embassy in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Turkey has also condemned Macron’s attitude toward Muslims and Islam, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying the French leader needed "mental treatment."/aa

Hashtags on boycotting French products went viral, as social media users condemned the anti-Islam campaign in the European country as the French government has embraced increasingly hostile rhetoric against Muslims recently. Photos and video footage circulating on social media also show Kuwaiti supermarkets emptied shelves from made in France goods.

The recent developments followed France’s ordering the temporary closure of a mosque outside of Paris, as part of a crackdown on Muslims following the killing of a teacher who showed his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. French police have raided more than 50 mosques and associations since the killing.

French President Emmanuel Macron refused to condemn satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo's decision to republish offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, saying that it was not his place to pass judgment on the magazine's decision. Macron backed the magazine and vowed measures against what he called “Islamic separatism.”

Social media users, mostly on Twitter, are now sharing photos of the French products that Muslims should avoid purchasing. The boycott list includes luxury brands such as Cartier, Dior, Chanel, Nina Ricci, Givenchy and Lacoste along with food products or car manufacturers like Renault, or cigarette brand Gauloises.

Al Jazeera Arabic also reported Friday that supermarkets in Kuwait started to remove French products from their shelves in line with the boycott campaign.

An assailant on Oct. 16, was found to have decapitated a history teacher in France who had shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class, police said, adding that police had shot the suspected killer dead.

A French anti-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the slaying for murder with a suspected terrorist motive, the prosecutor's office said. The gruesome incident occurred in the town of Eragny, in the Val d’Oise region northwest of Paris.

Charlie Hebdo republished caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, which unleashed a wave of anger in the Muslim world, to mark the start of the trial of alleged accomplices in the deadly attack against it in 2015 in which 12 people were killed.

Before the attack on Charlie Hebdo's offices, militants online had warned the magazine would pay for publishing the cartoons. The attacks that began on Jan. 7, 2015, sparked a series of militant attacks on French soil, including "lone wolf" killings by people said to be inspired by the Daesh terrorist group that have since claimed more than 250 lives.

The decision to republish the cartoons was seen as a renewed provocation by a magazine that has long courted with its satirical attacks on religion. Among the cartoons, most of which were first published by a Danish newspaper in 2005 and then by Charlie Hebdo a year later, is one of Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse protruding.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday condemned the hanging of caricatures insulting the Prophet Muhammad on the front of some buildings in France and the government’s associating of Islam with terrorism.

"We condemn the constant systematic attack on the feelings of Muslims by insulting the religious symbols represented by the person of the Prophet Muhammad,” the statement by the OIC read.

The statement noted that the political discourse of some French officials, which harms the French-Islamic relations for the sake of gaining political gain encourages hatred, emphasizing that it is unacceptable to insult any religious symbol under the name of freedom.

The organization called on France to review its discriminatory policies targeting Islamic societies and hurting the feelings of more than one and a half billion Muslims around the world./DS

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Friday criticized women-only swimming hours practices in some cities of the country, accusing mayors of complying with political Islam, an ideology that “is at the root of terrorism.”

Speaking to Europe 1 radio, Le Maire said political Islam undermines the core values of France, adding that segregated hours at municipal pools is a “cowardice and renunciation” that fuels the “terrorist ideology.”

The finance minister also called on businesspeople to join the French government’s wide-ranging suppression of Muslims in the country.

Mistreatment against Muslims in France peaked following President Emmanuel Macron's declaration of a crackdown against Islam, followed by the initiation of deeply divisive policies that target the Muslim community through clampdowns on mosques and Muslim organizations.

Earlier this week, two Muslim women become the latest victims of growing anti-Islam sentiment in France after being "stabbed repeatedly" under the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

While some Muslim leaders and organizations harshly criticized France’s policies, supermarkets in Kuwait started to remove French products from their shelves in line with a boycott campaign./DS

The Minister of Health, Dr. Basil Al-Sabah, met with the representatives of Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways, to discuss the proposal submitted by the two companies regarding the direct entry of people from 34 countries to Kuwait with the application of health measures approved by the Ministry of Health.

The Minister assured that the proposal would be studied from all sides by the technical staff at the Ministry of Health to make sure of the success of the proposed plan and its suitability with respect to the compliance of approved health instructions and requirements.

The proposals submitted by the two companies include direct entry of people from all countries with all required helath check upon arrival at Kuwait airport and reduce teh quarentine period to 7 days.

If the plan is approved by the Ministry of Health, a large number of Indian who are stuck in their home country can return to Kuwait without 14 days stay at another country.

MPs continue to express anger over the speech of French President Emmanuel Macron against Islam. MP Ahmed Al-Fadl pointed out that offending Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is not part of free speech according to the European court.

He said condemning the terroristic crimes does not mean extending the attack to Islam and Muslim icons.

MP Osama Al-Shaheen wondered about the double standard adopted by France; explaining that while offending French values is strictly forbidden, defaming Islamic values is not only allowed but also supported and encouraged.

He added that attacking a single French citizen is condemned, but attacking two French women is allowed just because they are Muslims and wearing Hijab. MP Adel Al-Damkhi praised the statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard, affirming such a statement reflects his stand on the issue.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Danish aid workers stationed in the Balkans say dozens of migrants have alleged they were brutalized by Croatian law-enforcement officers when they tried to cross into the European Union nation, before being summarily expelled back to Bosnia.

Nicola Bay, the head of the Danish Refugee Council in Bosnia, told The Associated Press Friday that 149 migrants of varying nationalities, independently interviewed by his staff in the country over the past 10 days, reported being exposed to “extremely abusive” treatment by Croatian police.

The testimonies include allegations of brutal and prolonged beatings, of people being stripped naked and being forced to lie like logs stacked on top of each other, Bay said, adding: “In two cases, we have reports of severe sexual abuse.”

Bosnia, which has never truly recovered from its brutal 1992-95 war, became a bottleneck for thousands of Europe-bound migrants from the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa three years ago when other nations closed their borders and disrupted migration paths through the Balkans.

Upon entering Bosnia, most migrants walk northwest to the country’s highly porous 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) border with Croatia, one of the last gateways to northern Europe.

Bay said that testimonies collected from groups who had not been in contact with each other included the same descriptions of violence.

“The similarities between these accounts are really chilling in that they point to systematic patterns of abuse…(by) men in black uniforms and with black balaclavas” hiding their faces, he added.

Describing the testimonies as “horrifying,” the DRC’s secretary general, Charlotte Slente, urged in a written statement for immediate action "to put a stop to the systematic use of violence.”

“Treating human beings like this … irrespective of their migratory status, cannot and should not be accepted by any European country, or by any EU institution,” Slente added.

Human rights organizations have been accusing Croatia’s police for years of brutality and illegal pushbacks of migrants, which Croatia has consistently denied.

Calls to the Croatian police press office went unanswered Friday. Croatia’s Interior Ministry said earlier this week it was investigating the DRC allegations with the goal of “removing any doubt about the behavior of Croatian police officers or sanctioning and eliminating all irregularities if any occurred.”

Migrants interviewed by the DRC in Bosnia bore visible injuries that were also documented in a series of disturbing photographs shared with the AP.

Separately on Friday, in a makeshift camp in northwestern Bosnia, numerous other migrants were nursing injuries they said were inflicted on them by the Croatian police after they managed to cross into the country this month.

“When they catch us, they start beating us with sticks and kicking us as if we were animals … before taking us back” to Bosnia, a young man from Bangladesh said in the camp close to the border with Croatia where hundreds of migrants are stranded.

The man, who asked not to be identified out of fear of repercussions, said Croatian police also confiscated migrants’ belongings such as mobile phones and money.

Another migrant, who identified himself as Muhammed from Pakistan, claimed Croatian police set dogs on him after he crossed into the country two weeks ago. He showed healing wounds on his arms and legs.

Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced concern over the latest allegations, noting that the Croatian government’s customary reaction “has been to dismiss reports published by NGOs or resulting from investigative journalism.”

Mijatovic said in a written statement that despite the Croatian government asserting that all allegations are investigated, "credible reports of such violations continue.”

“Disturbingly, these reports suggest that violence and de-humanizing acts accompanying pushbacks are increasing, and it seems that Croatian law enforcement officers continue to enjoy impunity for such serious human rights violations,” Mijatovic said.