Distinguished participants,

It is a pleasure to be able to share the Turkish perspective on a crucial issue that affects many societies.

Discrimination against persons based on religion or belief is one of the biggest challenges of our time.

Past experiences have bitterly shown that such discrimination can lead to acts of violence if right steps are not taken in a timely manner and effective complaint and follow-up mechanisms are not established.

Once again, with the war in Gaza we are seeing a rise in both Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

Since today’s focus is on attacks against Quran, I will focus on rising Islamophobia.

Nowadays, attacks and provocations against Islam, Muslims, the Holy Quran and places of worship perpetrated in different parts of the world are unfortunately high on the global agenda.

Islamophobia, one of the most common forms of racism and xenophobia today, has reached such a level that Muslims are exposed to hate speech, attacks and insults to their sacred values.

Islamophobia could be in many forms: vulgar racism or xenophobia; actual physical violence and institutional Islamophobia.

Examples can be seen almost everywhere: in text books, pop culture, on social media, or political space.

Recently, attacks against the Quran have shown that no lessons have been learnt from the Nazis burning of books almost a century ago. To give an example, since January 2023, the Quran was burned in more than 600
occasions in front of the Embassies of the OIC countries in Europe.

For everyone with a good conscience and common sense, the despicable incidents of burning of the Quran were acts of deep hatred and an affront to all Muslims.

Objectives of the burning of the Quran were to provoke, agitate, hurt and argue that Muslims are not welcome in Western societies. These acts work against multiculturalism, integration, and peaceful co-existence.

In many respects, these acts work against what the West is believed to stand for.Individuals or groups responsible for these acts abuseone of our fundamental right, the freedom of expression. That is why, invarious places there is still hesitation to prevent such provocative acts.

Yet, perpetrators of these acts are well known to be the embodiment of hatred, racism and Islamophobia. They must not be able to repeatedly abuse freedom of expression to agitate society and, violate the universal principle of respect and understanding towards religions and holy scriptures.

This constitutes one of the greatest threats to social peace and harmony, and universal democratic values. While freedom of expressionis the cornerstone of democracy, it cannot be allowed to be abused for spreading hatred.

Therefore, condemning the burning of the Quran is not to stand against the freedom of expression. It is to stand against the abuse of this freedom to commit hate crimes and to normalize Islamophobia.

Similarly, the demand by the critics of Quran burning is not to ban criticism of religion or holy books. The reaction to Quran burning is not just intolerance by religious Muslims to mere offensive acts.

That is because Quran burning is not happening in a vacuum. Because there is clear evidence of the risk of normalization of Islamophobia. Because there is genuine moral harm and hate-related intent that can damage the fundamentals of civic peaceful co-existence.

The Nazis did not burn books just to attack certain ideas, ideologies, and their authors. They also sent a message to and targeted readers and supporters of those books.

Those who hesitate to prevent these Islamophobic and racist provocative acts should resort to history books to refresh their memories about how burning of books in the last century was the first symptom of a deadly disease that soon led to one of the most horrifying episodes of human history.

However, I believe that freedom of expression and social harmony, respect and tolerance can be reconciled to avoid senseless harm to social fabric. This is about protecting human dignity of the whole of society in harmony with liberal principles and international norms.

In addressing this complex issue, it is essential to strike a delicate balance between protection of freedom of expression and prevention of hate speech and incitement to violence.

While we must uphold the right of individuals to express their opinions freely, we must also ensure that such expression does not infringe upon the rights and dignity of others.

This requires a nuanced and thoughtful approach that considers the complexities of multicultural society and the need to promote understanding and empathy across religious and cultural divides. It is not enough to simply condemn acts of intolerance. We must also work to foster a culture of respect, dialogue, and mutual acceptance.

One avenue for action is through legislative and policy measures aimed at combating hate speech and promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding. This may include strengthening existing laws to better address acts of religious desecration, as well as implementing educational programs to promote tolerance and diversity in our schools and
communities.

The purpose of all basic rights, including freedom of expression, is to protect people’s dignity, identity and autonomy, individually or collectively. But Quran burning harms dignity by abusing freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression ensures that all possible paths to arriving at truth remain open. It is worthy of protection as it engages the public towards rational democratic debate. If so, what truth does Quran burning reveal? How does book burning serve truth?

The right to protect one’s dignity and identity deserves protection from freedom of expression when it is exercised in an
abusive way.

While freedom of expression is a fundamental right, it is not absolute and must be balanced against other democratic rights, such as the rights of others to have their religious feelings protected. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 19[3]) and the European Convention on Human Rights (article 10[2]) establish the legal basis
for that.

Any restriction of freedom of expression would open the way for censorship and democratic backsliding in the future is exaggerated. We all need to have more confidence in the resilience of democracy and open society.

Let us also remember that religious discrimination and stereotyping can have profound effects on individuals and communities. Such discrimination limits these communities’ educational, economic and social opportunities in life and lead to their exclusion from the society.

This also makes them more susceptible to radicalization or exploitation by extremist groups which causes further
discrimination.

Therefore, we must engage with faith leaders, community organizations, and other stakeholders to develop comprehensive strategies for countering extremism and promoting social cohesion. This will help to address the root causes of Islamophobia and xenophobia, including economic insecurity, social exclusion, and political polarization.

By fostering meaningful dialogue and collaboration, we can build bridges of understanding and solidarity that transcend religious and cultural differences. We can create a more inclusive and equitable society that values the contributions of all its members.

At this point, we must emphasize that the public figures carry the utmost responsibility. The rise in intolerance and hatred correlates closely with use of populist rhetoric and acts by public figures.In some countries, anti-immigration and anti-refugeerhetoric has taken an anti-Muslim overtone and has often become the centraltheme of political campaigns.

Through their words and actions, politicians should instead promote mutual respect and understanding, with a view to building inclusive and peaceful societies rooted in human rights and dignity for all.

I also would like to briefly touch upon the UK.When we look at the developments across Europe, we seethe Islamophobic far right is on the rise, the hate-filled and openlyIslamophobic politicians continue to advance in some countries. Thesituation in the UK differs somewhat from that in continental Europe.

As you may all remember, last year in January, far-right Islamophobic Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. A week later he repeated the same provocative act in front of a mosque in Denmark.

When he announced his plans to come to the UK on the first day of Ramadan, the UK
Government did not allow him into the country. We welcomed this pre-emptive decision.

On the other hand, since October 7^th, the official data show an appalling rise both in Islamophobia and antisemitism in
the UK.We hope the British Government and civil society as awhole will manage to deal with this phenomenon.

Distinguishedparticipants,

International human rights instruments also provide safeguards to protect persons against advocacy and dissemination of hatred.The International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights openly places an obligation on States Parties to prohibit hate speech.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination obliges States to criminalise the dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred.

States Parties to these instruments are under obligation to prevent and address any advocacy of hatred, including the one based on religion.

Moreover, the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief calls on all States to take effective measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination and to combat intolerance based on religion or belief.

We need to continue our call on all countries and international organisations to take necessary measures against Islamophobia and racism and request immediate adoption of efficient and deterrent steps against this threat.

The adoption of the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 53/1 and UN General Assembly Resolution 77/318 last year, qualified the incidents of burning of Quran as religious hatred and violations of international law. These developments constitute important guidance to States in preventing and addressing religious hatred, discrimination and violence.

As Türkiye we play a leading role in international efforts on combating these alarming trends.The Alliance of Civilisations, which was co-sponsoredby Türkiye and Spain in 2005 to promote peaceful co-existence in a difficultage is a case in point. Today, with 160 members, the Alliance has become one ofthe most widely supported initiatives at the UN.

Its members come from diverse social, economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds and yet all commit themselves to stand against intolerance, hate speech, xenophobia, anti-Semitism as well as Islamophobia.

This is a clear testimony to the relevance and credibility of the vision and the mission of the Alliance. It is a critical
tool in promoting greater understanding and respect among cultures and religions.

The pressing challenges of our time make the Alliance’s work more significant and should reinforce our commitment to its efforts as an effective multilateral and cooperative mechanism.

Türkiye will continue working to improve the relevant acquis of the international organisations and to monitor their implementation, particularly by the countries where anti-Islamic hate crimes are committed.

History demonstrates that sowing seeds of hatred is a threat to all humanity. That’s why we need to stand up against it.

Each of us has an individual responsibility to call out any injustice we witness and condemn intolerance, incitement, harassment based on ethnic origin or religious belief.

We are just few days away from the beginning of Holy Month of Ramadan. All over the world, Islam’s message of peace, compassion and grace has inspired people for almost 15 centuries. The word Islam itself derives from the same root word – salam/peace.

We are also approaching 15 March, International Day to Combat Islamophobia.Let me conclude with the words of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, when marking the first International Day to Combat Islamophobia, “As the Holy Quran reminds us: nations and tribes were created to know one another. Diversity is a richness, not a threat”.

I hope with a reasonable and respectful discussion, we can find the right balance between freedom of expression and respect to one’s beliefs.

Thank you.