TİKA Supports the International Seminar on Human Rights Violations

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) held the “International Seminar on Human Rights Violations Faced by Muslims and Minorities” in Istanbul on February 16 and 17, 2022.

Held by TİKA, the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, and YTB on February 16 and 17, 2022, the seminar was attended by representatives of many national and international organizations, academics, experts, and representatives of NGOs, as well as the representatives of the OIC’s Human Rights Commission.

While the situation of Muslims in Europe and Asia was discussed on the first day, the sessions held on the second day focused on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. The human rights violations faced by Turkish minorities in Western Thrace were also discussed at the seminar.

Prof. Mustafa Şentop, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, sent video messages for the seminar, which focused on the human rights violations against Muslims in Asia, Europe, and Palestine and the proposed solutions for the prevention of these violations. At the seminar, which was held in Istanbul, Yakup Moğul, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye, delivered the opening speech, which was followed by speeches by Dr. Hacı Ali Açıkgül, Chairperson of the OIC’s Human Rights Commission; Ambassador Samir Bakr Diab, Assistant Secretary-General of the OIC; and Ammar Hijazi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Palestine.

In the video message he sent for the seminar, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said, “We have a lot of work to do together to defend the rights of Muslims all around the world and the remedies available to them. All Muslim countries are responsible for supporting our brothers and sisters. Especially the populist discourse in Europe fuels violence against Muslims.”

In his speech, Mustafa Şentop, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, said, “We are witnessing the manifestations of Islamophobia, which has become one of the most widespread types of racism in the past 20 years, all around the world, both at the public and state level, from social and traditional media to the academic community, to international organizations, to judicial bodies.”

Yakup Moğul, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye, delivered the opening speech at the seminar and stressed that inherent fundamental human rights and freedoms are inviolable. He said, “The world is going through difficult times in terms of the protection of human rights. The difficulties in protecting human rights affect Muslims more severely. Muslims face grave human rights violations in many parts of the world, from Jerusalem to Rakhine, to Sudan, to Western Thrace, to Yemen, to Libya. Human rights standards are unfortunately ignored when it comes to Muslims.”