Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 10/12/2007
The Secretary General of the OIC, Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu addressed the opening session of the international conference on Islamophobia opened on Saturday December 08, 2007 in Istanbul, a two day conference organized by the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW). In his address at the occasion, Prof. Ihsanoglu commended the UNIW for organizing the conference and informed the participants of the various endeavours of the OIC in countering Islamophobia. Prof. Ihsanoglu mentioned that causes of Islamophobia are many and rooted in historical animosity, and currently it is the principle of freedom of expression that is being used as a cover to foment the phenomenon in the West, although many international and national legal instruments do not allow incitement to religious hatred. He also advocated the importance of moral and ethical responsibility in practicing democracy. The Secretary General stressed that dialogue initiatives should propose a specific path and have a well-defined ultimate goal. He welcomed the dialogue calls from some Western countries but requested that those countries should undertake a preliminary internal or domestic dialogue among the different trends in their own societies to clarify their stands. He expressed his firm conviction that what unites Islam and Christianity outweighs what keeps them apart based on their common beliefs and common ancestry and that it was on this premise that he had frequently called for a “Historic Reconciliation” between Islam and Christianity. The OIC Secretary General also alluded to the efforts of the OIC Islamophobia Observatory and heralded the forthcoming release by the Observatory of the first ever Annual Report on Islamophobia. He invited the participating experts and NGOs to cooperate with the Observatory in order to enhance the document. He also mentioned that in addition to combating Islamophobia, humanitarian assistance and relief works was the other important field where OIC General Secretariat would like to benefit from the experience of NGOs. The conference, with the participation of more than 150 scientists, scholars and NGO representatives from different countries have discussed the causes and manifestations of Islamophobia as well as the ways and means of combating it.
