Turkey's Erdogan Calls Zionism "Crime Against Humanity"

Speaking yesterday before a Vienna forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, a UN framework for West-Islam dialogue, Erodgan called Zionism, the movement founded in 1897 for Jewish self-determination, a "crime against humanity," likening it with anti-Semitism, fascism, and Islamophobia. (Minute Mark 8:00 to 8:30)

Hürriyet: Turkish PM Erdogan: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism same - Islamophobia must be recognized as a crime against humanity in the same fashion that Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism should be, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. Speaking at the “Fifth Alliance of Civilizations Forum” in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace, the prime minister underlined the rising trend of fascism across the Europe. “We are facing a world in which racist attacks have gained momentum, terrorism has claimed more lives, and religions and sects treat each other with less understanding,” Erdogan said. “In a similar fashion, I must state that rising racism in Europe is a serious problem for the Alliance of Civilizations Project,” Erdogan said, adding that the “disrespectful” attitudes to Muslims in certain countries hurt consciences. “We witness very frequently the alienation of the ‘other’ in various countries instead of efforts to understand the culture and beliefs of the ‘other,’” he said. “Just like Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it becomes unavoidable that Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity,” Erdoðan said, slamming politicians who use communication tools to deepen the gap between cultures. “Certain politicians’ defamation of a religion or a sect by mass communication tools only makes pre-conceived notions bigger and deepens the gap,” Erdogan said.

Russia Today: Turkish PM’s ‘Zionist’ comment sparks international Israeli & US outcry - The Israeli premier, the UN Chief and US officials criticized the Turkish PM’s claim that Jewish nationalism is a "crime against humanity," and rejected comparisons to fascism, the ideology behind the Holocaust, which targeted European Jews. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled Wednesday’s statement by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “dark and libelous.” “I strongly condemn the comparison that the Turkish prime minister drew between Zionism and fascism,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Haaretz, adding that he “thought that such dark and libelous comments were a thing of the past.”

Hürriyet: US, Turkey divided on Israel after PM Erdoğan's Zionism remarks
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