A visit to change the perception of Islamophobia in Europe/ March 12, 2015
Istanbul Aydin University Center of Western Research organized a conference titled ‘Perception of Turkey in Europe and Rising Islamophobia and its Effects in Europe’. The conference was hosted by Cambridge University.
Mentioning that the purpose of the event was to change the wrong perception of Islam that is far from reality, Istanbul Aydin University chairman of the Board of Trustees Dr. Mustafa Aydin invited universities to collaborate to change that perception.
Istanbul Aydin University UNESCO Chair in Cultural Diplomacy, Governance and and Education organized the conference with the Center of Western Research of IAU. The participants to the conference included Ambassador of Turkey in the United Kingdom Abdurrahman Bilgic; Lord John Sharkey of House of Lords; president of the Board of Trustes of Istanbul Aydin University Dr. Mustafa Aydin. The speakers to the conference were Oxford University Director of the Center on Migration, Policy and Society Franck Düvell; Cambridge University Center of Islamic Research; Islamophobia Specialist in Europe Julian Hargreaves and Journalist/ Author Nicole Pope.
Noted the increased racism and antipathy towards Islam in Europe, Dr. Mustafa Aydin said, “ This has been going on not since September 11th. It has been going on since the inquisition and crusades that started in Andalucia and took a different turn with September 11th event. Because of Turkey’s geopolitical location which is to be a bridge between Europe and the Middle East, puts Turkey in jeopardy. All the doors were shut at Turkey who has been trying to join the European Union because of this. European Union never spells out the reasons but they maintain this antipathy because we are a Muslim country. We, Istanbul Aydin University, organize conferences with the participation of our academicians with collaboration of Sorbonne University in Germany, Belgium; Salamanca and Valencia University in Spain; Cambridge University in England. We aim to explain that the wrong perception towards Islam is far from reality.”
