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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a speech given at the opening of a Ministerial Conference on Social Development held by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on December 8, 2019, at the Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel in Istanbul and broadcast by the state-run Anadolu Agency, described "insidious policies of assimilation" as an example of hostility toward Muslims in the West. Regarding such hostility, including violence against Muslims, he asked "do we have no obligation, no responsibility to hate from our hearts? For as long as we do not do this, we will take many more beatings."
Warning of Western threats to Turkish families, he said: "However much we take ownership of children, women, the elderly, and the disabled, against threats whose source is the West, our family structure will be protected to that degree." Surveying the turmoil in various Middle Eastern countries, he concluded: "The imperialist understanding of 'divide, break apart, and swallow the Islamic countries' is continuing on its path." He announced that following Turkey's invasion of northeast Syria, "370,000 people, by their own wish, have returned [to Syria] and settled in the regions of Syria that we have made safe."
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: "The hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is becoming more common in Western countries as time goes on is another important question. One section of the problems is in the form of direct attacks on property and lives. One section appears in insidious policies of assimilation. Whereas another section appears as a blind hostility. Whatever form it takes, in the end those who are victims, who are oppressed, are always Muslims. Are they attacking our mosques? They are. Are Muslims being killed where they are seen? They are. For how long will we remain silent in the face of this?
"If we do not raise our voices, if we do not intervene with our hands, [we will intervene] with our words. If we do not intervene with our words, then do we have no obligation, no responsibility to hate from our hearts? For as long as we do not do this, we will take many more beatings. These terror organizations, all of which are the product of a scheme and which exploit our religion's name, are used as an excuse by these tyrants. At the recent NATO Summit, the president of France, still, stands up and talks about 'Islamic terror.' How many times have I told him: Islam, beginning from the word's meaning, derived from slm, means peace. How can you, with the phrase 'Islamic terror,' bring peace and terror together?
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"However much we take ownership of children, women, the elderly, and the disabled, against threats whose source is the West, our family structure will be protected to that degree. We should be vigilant against the erosion that is a result of the content whose source is the West on means of communication such as social media and television. While our borders are protected, we must rapidly fill every gap, every crack that will allow our minds to be taken prisoner.
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"What is happening in Syria is clear. What is happening in Somalia is clear. What is happening in Sudan is clear. What is happening in Iraq is clear. What is happening in Iran is clear. It is the same in Palestine. My dear brothers, take note: All of these things are happening in Islamic countries. The imperialist understanding of 'divide, break apart, and swallow the Islamic countries' is continuing on its path.
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"370,000 people, by their own wish, have returned [to Syria] and settled in the regions of Syria that we have made safe. We have begun our work in constructing the settlement areas between Ras Al-Ayn and Tel Abyad in which, in the first phase, we will be able to house hundreds of thousands of people and along with the other places along the border, we will be able to house one million people."
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