Obviously, this office has been designed to fight against anti-Islam and anti-Muslim sentiments that are on the rise in the West particularly after the Sept. 11 attacks and will fill a big gap in this quest. As a matter of fact, Europe is one of the major regions where the recently rising anti-Islamic sentiments are fomented. The most concrete example of this was the infamous caricature crisis in Denmark. Although this hatred has been particularly fostered by the Sept. 11 attacks, the long established historical animosity in the subconscious of Europe against Islam, too, plays a big part.Right-wing and racist politicians and their supporters in Europe are intentionally adding fuel to enmity against Islam. However, there are also a considerable number of intellectuals who pay respect to Islam and Muslims in Europe. It is possible to suggest that there are many people who have internalized an advanced culture of democracy and human rights in Europe. For instance, 26-year-old Mahinur Özdemir was elected to a Belgian regional parliament on June 7, and she is the youngest-ever deputy. Özdemir will wield her duties and affairs at the regional parliament while wearing her headscarf. A liberal deputy was apparently offended by this development and requested that the headscarf should be banned.
This effort to ban the headscarf by the federal deputy from the Valon liberals, it seems, has come as a great treat for the Islamophobists of Turkey. For instance, NTV TV station chose the "headscarf crisis in Belgium" as the title of this news story. They interviewed Özdemir in a live broadcast, but they were impolite to her. When the announcer realized that it would not be possible to create a crisis by cornering Özdemir with her questions, she started to bombard her with questions about the Armenian question. Özdemir noted that she did not want to discuss this issue, but the announcer did not seem to be satisfied. So she continued with her questions, but she could not get what she was seeking. Thus, as a young, but considerably well-trained politician, Özdemir managed to successfully ward off attacks from a TV station in Turkey.
As one watches this news story, one cannot help thinking that the OIC should open a representative office in İstanbul as part of its anti-Islamophobia efforts. Such an office, which will conduct studies to fight Islamophobia, which certain media organizations are not eager to abandon, will be needed most in İstanbul. As you remember, anti-Islamic sentiments, which gained momentum after Sept. 11, 2001, peaked in Turkey on Feb. 28, 1997. In other words, they had started in Turkey long before they were seen in the West.
For instance, if we conduct a statistical survey about how our media organizations report news about religion, what will be the percentage of the news stories that are positive about religion? Not only are they keen on not missing any news story that might be considered as unfavorable for Islam or Muslims, but they also sponsor so many fabricated stories. Their mood can best be explained with Islamophobia. Except for Ramadan, it is almost impossible to read or watch any news that is positive about Islam. Positive stories in Ramadan tend to be about enlightened imams who raise numerous criticisms about Muslims. For this reason, an OIC anti-Islamophobia office in İstanbul would be most welcome.
