Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), expressed outrage at a statement made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a United Nations gathering last week at which he equated Zionism with racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and called it “a crime against humanity.” Lauder said: “Mr. Erdoğan’s latest outburst against Israel is an insult not just to the Jewish state but to the entire Jewish people. Unfortunately, despite all the criticism of the past days, he has not had the decency to apologize.”
On Monday, WJC Deputy Secretary General Maram Stern canceled his planned participation in an event in Berlin this Tuesday on intercultural dialogue which is to be addressed by Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinc. As the reason, Stern cited Erdogan’s failure to withdraw his controversial comments and apologize for them.
The Turkish PM had told a forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna last Wednesday: "Just like Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it becomes unavoidable that Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity.”
Ronald S. Lauder said the Turkish leader seemed to refight the battles of the 1970s when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution that equated Zionism with racism. It was revoked in 1991. “Prime Minister Erdoğan is obviously trying to jockey for the position of supreme leader of the Islamic world. However, by using the language of hatred and emulating notorious hatemongers, such as Iranian President Ahmadinejad, he will in fact foster more, and not less, Islamophobia,” Lauder declared.
“Zionism is the legitimate aspiration of the Jewish people to live in its historic homeland, Israel. If the leaders of the Islamic world are serious in their desire to have peace in the Middle East, it is time that they accept Israel’s right to exist and stop this kind of incitement,” Lauder said.
The WJC president thanked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle for issuing clear condemnations of Erdoğan ’s remarks, but he added: “We are still waiting to hear similar statements from the European Union and many other world leaders. PM Erdoğan has been one of the initiators of the Alliance of Civilizations, but his remarks were an affront to the very aims of this initiative. It would perhaps be a wise decision to disband this forum if he continues to use it as a platform for hateful remarks.”
