TURKISH PM CONDEMNS VIOLENCE IN ISLAMIC WORLD

     Ankara, 9 Muharram 1435/13 November 2013 (MINA) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the violence in the Islamic world and saying “The name of the murderer is still Yazid, the name of the innocent is still Hussein”.

    Addressing to the MPs of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Tuesday, Turkish PM stated that the reason behind violent killings in Islamic geography was “the greed for power”, Anadolu Agency reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

      Erdogan spoke on the eve of the tenth day of Muharram, which is a mourning day for Muslims as it is the day on which Prophet Mohammad`s grandson was martyred by the Umayyad caliph Yazid I.

     In his speech, Erdogan resembled the rulers who are behind the violent murders in the Islamic world to Yazid.

      “Just like the way Yazid`s greed for power spilled Hussein`s blood 1374 years ago, the same greed for power of some is still killing the innocent mercilessly. No matter in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq or Yemen, the name of the murderer is still the same: Yazid.”

        Erdogan also pointed out that violence has nothing to do with Islam.

       Touching upon the reforms his party introduced to solve the problems of Alewites in Turkey, Erdogan said, “We have been building up Anatolian civilization with our Alewite brothers, sisters since 1071.”

       “Differences between the Sunni and the Alewite are paltry”, said Erdogan, emphasizing the value both the Sunni poet Rumi and the Alewite Haji Bektash added to the Turkish cultural history.

       “Provocations by certain groups cannot harm our brotherhood which relies on our ancient togetherness”, Erdogan added.

      ‘If we see the Alewite people as a source of vote just like some power-greedy circles and exploiters, we cannot solve our problems,” he said, suggesting to overcome the problems by one-to-one, heart-to-heart communication. (T/P09/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)