Cicek warns against xenophobia in Europe

Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Cicek has warned that racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia have escalated in Europe and threaten global values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law, adding that political parties with extremist tendencies had recently increased their popular support. "As people in North Africa and Middle East risk their lives to fight an honorable struggle that highlights the joint values of humanity; in Europe racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia are on the rise with the economic crisis. It is of great concern that political parties portraying migrants as a source of security concern, unemployment, crime, poverty and other social problems are increasing their support," Cemil Cicek told a session on intercultural dialogue as part of the Third Consultation Meeting of the Parliamentary Speakers of the G20 Countries in Riyadh. Cicek recalled the killing of eight Turks in Germany between 2000 and 2006 by a neo-Nazi group, and the attacks in Norway in 2011 that killed 77. He said the examples showed that terrorism and extremism was not only associated with a single religion or a geography, and that extreme right-wing ideologies in Europe posed a grave security threat. He said the co-existence of differences within a society was only possible through dialogue, adding that when dialogue weakened, fundamentalism, terrorism, polarization and discrimination became inevitable. "There is a clash between barbarianisms, not civilizations. Cultures and civilizations are in dialogue with each other," Cicek said.