ISTANBUL // In a sign of his simmering anger about what he sees as baseless accusations against Islam in the West, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, has called on the international community to declare the enmity against Islam a "crime against humanity".
Addressing Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, his Spanish counterpart, and about 2,500 other guests in Istanbul at a celebratory iftar meal on Monday, Mr Erdogan said: "No culture, no civilisation should belittle the other, despise the other or see the other as an enemy."
Mr Erdogan and Mr Zapatero, leaders of a Muslim nation and a Catholic country, respectively, that both suffered from serious attacks by extremists - Istanbul in 2003 and Madrid in 2004 - are partners in and co-sponsors of a UN project called Alliance of Civilisations, which was formed in 2005. The alliance "aims to improve understanding and co-operative relations among nations and peoples across cultures and religions and, in the process, to help counter the forces that fuel polarisation and extremism", according to the mission statement on the initiative's website.
Under Mr Erdogan's government, Turkey has started to play a more active role on the international stage in recent years, pushing for membership in the European Union and cementing its alliance with the United States while at the same time deepening its ties with the Islamic world without giving up its close relationship with Israel. Ankara won praise recently for facilitating indirect talks between Israel and Syria. After clashes between Georgia and Russia in August, Mr Erdogan suggested the formation of a new Caucasus alliance as an instrument of conflict prevention and resolutions.
In the Alliance of Civilisations, Mr Erdogan has emerged as a leading representative of the Islamic countries, said Semih Idiz, a foreign policy columnist with the daily Milliyet. As a politician with roots in political Islam and leader of a party that has many pious Muslims among its voters, Mr Erdogan is very sensitive to what he sees as western prejudices towards Muslims, Mr Idiz said.
"Islamic countries are watching closely what he does," Mr Idiz said about Mr Erdogan's role in the Alliance of Civilisations. "He is a sort of spokesman, representing the Islamic world in the platform."
But at the same time Mr Erdogan had to take into account that he himself had to take "brave steps", Mr Idiz said. After the murders of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and of three Christians in the central Anatolian town of Malatya last year, the Erdogan government was criticised for not being outspoken enough in its condemnation of the killings.
In his speech at the iftar on Monday, Mr Erdogan stressed the need for a dialogue without prejudices.
"The principle mission of the Alliance of Civilisations is an effort to understand each other correctly," he said. The fear of Islam that has spread in the West, a development he called a "paranoia", makes it harder to reach that aim, he said.
"The fear called Islamophobia is a pathological state of mind, as the name says," Mr Erdogan said in his speech, according to reports in Turkish newspapers and television stations. "We expect members of other civilisations to declare Islamophobia a crime against humanity, especially while we say that anti-Semitism is a crime against humanity."
Mr Erdogan has criticised the West for harbouring "Islamophobia" before, saying that Muslims felt "under siege". But this time, the prime minister went further, accusing the West of trying to define values of a global civilisation all by itself.
"We think that civilisation is global, and that civilisation cannot be interpreted like an ideology that belongs to the West," he said. After a first international forum held in Madrid in January this year, the Alliance of Civilisations will hold its second forum in Istanbul in April. Mr Idiz said the platform had become a vehicle to defuse tensions between the West and the Islamic world.
"We saw that after the cartoon crisis," he said, referring to the anger in the Islamic world after the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed by a Danish newspaper in 2005. At a meeting in Doha in Feb 2006, members of the alliance discussed ways to calm the waters after the crisis.
In his speech at iftar, Mr Zapatero promised his country's continuing support for Turkey's bid to become a member of the European Union, the only such application by a predominantly Muslim nation.
"With the membership of Turkey, we will have a much stronger European Union," Mr Zapatero said. Spain is one of the few EU states that support Turkey's applications, while the governments of such other big EU nations as France and Germany have voiced reservations about giving membership to Turkey. Membership talks started in 2005 and are expected to last at least another six years.
tseibert@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Peugeot 5008
Price, base / as tested: Dh99,900 / Dh134,900
Engine: 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 240Nm @ 1,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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FA CUP FINAL
Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')
Watford 0
Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
MATCH INFO
Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, May 3
Live: On BeIN Sports HD
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Joe Root (captain), Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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RESULTS
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3E6pm%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Marfa%20Deira%20%E2%80%93%20Conditions%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(Dirt)%201%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWinner%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wadheha%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%20(jockey)%2C%20Majed%20Al%20Jahouri%20(trainer)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E6.35pm%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20Creek%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(TB)%20Dh82%2C500%20(D)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWinner%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBarq%20Al%20Emarat%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%2C%20Ismail%20Mohammed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E7.10pm%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMina%20Hamriya%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh95%2C000%20(D)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWinner%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tahdeed%2C%20Dane%20O%E2%80%99Neill%2C%20Michael%20Costa%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E7.45pm%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mina%20Rashid%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(TB)%20Dh82%2C500%20(D)%201%2C900m%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWinner%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeyaasi%2C%20Xavier%20Ziani%2C%20Salem%20bin%20Ghadayer%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E8.20pm%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAl%20Garhoud%20Sprint%20DP%20World%20%E2%80%93%20Listed%20(TB)%20Dh132%2C500%20(D)%201%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWinner%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mouheeb%2C%20Ray%20Dawson%2C%20Michael%20Costa%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E8.55pm%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mirdiff%20Stakes%20Jebel%20Ali%20Port%20%E2%80%93%20Conditions%20(TB)%20Dh120%2C000%20(D)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWinner%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seyouff%2C%20Antonio%20Fresu%2C%20Michael%20Costa%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E9.30pm%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jebel%20Ali%20Free%20Zone%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh95%2C000%20(D)%202%2C000m%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWinner%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAjuste%20Fiscal%2C%20Jose%20da%20Silva%2C%20Julio%20Olascoaga%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
if you go
The flights
Emirates fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas, where United have direct flights to Managua. Alternatively, from October, Iberia will offer connections from Madrid, which can be reached by both Etihad from Abu Dhabi and Emirates from Dubai.
The trip
Geodyssey’s (Geodyssey.co.uk) 15-night Nicaragua Odyssey visits the colonial cities of Leon and Granada, lively country villages, the lake island of Ometepe and a stunning array of landscapes, with wildlife, history, creative crafts and more. From Dh18,500 per person, based on two sharing, including transfers and tours but excluding international flights. For more information, visit visitnicaragua.us.
The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
Meatless Days
Sara Suleri, with an introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Penguin
