Time to put and end to discrimination against Europe’s Muslims, says Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday called for an end to the systematic discrimination of European Muslims, saying that the present day Islamophobia on the continent calls for a struggle similar to the one waged against anti-Semitism.

"European Muslims face systematic discrimination, with their rights and freedoms being taken away from them,’’ state-run Anadolu news agency cited Erdoğan as saying in a video message for a summit on the Srebrenica genocide.

"It is time to stop this erroneous course, which threatens the future of humanity and the coexistence of different religions and cultures,’’ Erdoğan said.

The Turkish president’s remarks arrive amid a row between France and the Muslim world over French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks on Islam and Muslims.

Last month, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis” and said he would present legislation in December to strengthen a law that officially separates church and state.

"There should a struggle waged against Islamophobia today, similar to the battle waged against anti-Semitism in the aftermath of the Holocoust,’’ Erdoğan added.