29 September 2001, Copyright © Turkish Daily News
Editorial by Ilnur Cevik
The West has to match words with deeds if it wants to be taken seriously in the Islamic world.
Islamic community confused
President George W. Bush has gone out of his way to distance terrorism and Islam. He has lately met with leaders of the Arab Americans and has once again praised Islam as a religion of peace.
Across the Atlantic in Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair also declared there is no Islamic or Muslim terrorism and that what we see now is clear terrorism. He also praised Islam.
But just before that Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi made a very strange statement which simply suggested that the Christian world is far more superior to the Islamic world... The statement came at a time when world leaders were trying to go to pains to avoid even a hint that there is a clash of religions and civilizations.
But this is just a rather unfortunate statement which may lie in the hearts of many people in the West which is far more serious than the actual remarks themselves.
Many Christian Democrats objected to Turkey's candidacy in the European Union simply because Turks are Muslims. They suggested the EU is a gathering of Christians and a state where people are predominantly Muslim should not be let in.
There is deep suspicions in the Islamic world that words do not match the deeds.
The U.S. has always gone out of its way to honor Islam. Yet, it has not been able to wipe away the deep distrust among Arabs that openly favors Israel and this reflects in its policies in the Middle East.
We know there is much soul searching among the Americans about why people especially in the Islamic world to say the least have very negative views about the U.S. One reason is Israel and U.S. policies in the Middle East and the other is the double standards that have always been used against the Islamic countries.
Despite all this the U.S. managed to get together an international coalition during the Gulf War simply because Kuwait was occupied and the Gulf countries especially Saudi Arabia was threatened.
Terrorism is also a threat and the international community is once again facing a common threat. But this time more serious persuasion is needed. The U.S. as well as the EU countries have to openly display they respect the worlds Muslim communities and that this does not remain in words...
You can't do that when the Pope goes to Armenia and says he acknowledges that one-and-a-half million "Christian Armenians" were martyred at the turn of last century. Does the Pope share the same prayers for the Muslim Turks who were butchered by the Armenians in the same period?
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