1st International Media And Islamophobia Symposium Continues
The second day of the “1st International Media and Islamophobia Symposium”, led by the RTUK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) and organized by RTUK, the Presidency of Religious Affairs, Erciyes University, TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) and SETA (Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research), started at the ATO Congresium with the opening speech of the Minister of Justice Abdülhamit GÜL.
The “1st International Media and Islamophobia Symposium”, which is being held under the auspices of the Radio and Television Supreme Council, continues on its second day at ATO Congresium, in cooperation with the Presidency of Religious Affairs, TRT, Erciyes University and SETA, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Presidency of Communications.
On the first day, President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, together with President of Religious Affairs Ali ERBAŞ, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri ERSOY and Chairman of the Radio and Television Supreme Council Ebubekir ŞAHİN made the opening speech. In first two panels, the institutionalization of Islamophobia and the role of the media were discussed.
Minister of Justice Abdülhamit GÜL attended the opening of the second day of the symposium where media and Islamophobia were discussed in every aspect. Undertaking the opening speech of the session on “Violation of Human Rights and Islamophobia as a Hate Crime”, Minister GÜL emphasized that international media imposes double standards on Muslims and said, "Turkey sets an example to the world with its success in keeping people alive with their rights."
In his speech, Minister of Justice GÜL stated that Islamophobia was carried out in a covert way by the media, especially with the terrorist attack on May 11 and said, “Terror is a crime against humanity. Violence cannot have a religion. We see that international press, which is effective in shaping the social perception and way of thinking of the media, does not give a good test, especially when it comes to Muslims and Islam. We accept the opposition of faith as a "hate crime" regardless of which religion it is committed to, and condemn the attack in the strongest terms on its believers. A multidimensional collective consciousness must be constituted to deal with hate crime. In this struggle, I believe that international mechanisms with the power to control, prevent and judge should be established.”
Following the opening speech of Minister GÜL, under the moderation of Assoc. Prof. Fatih KURT, the principal clerk of the Presidency and Ambassador Assoc. Prof. Hasan DOĞAN, Ombudsman Şeref MALKOÇ, İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University Prof. Dr. Özcan HIDIR took part as speakers in the session titled “Violation of Human Rights and Islamophobia as a Hate Crime”.
After the first session of the second day Ebubekir ŞAHİN (Chairman of RTUK) thanked the participants and guests.