Prof Dr Murteza Bedir.
Turkish Religious Foundation of the United Kingdom (TRFU) struck a seminar series under the name of “Religious Matters Conferences” to deal and tackle the increasing amount of Islamophobia in London.
The conference series started with its first instalment on the 20 February, with welcoming Istanbul University Religious Studies Faculty’s dean and Turkish Parlaiment’s Department of Religious Affairs member Prof. Dr. Mürteza Bedir. The conference took place in TRFU’s conference venue and started off with the speech of Mahmut Özdemir, who is an officer at the London Religious Services from Turkey. Mahmut Özdemir also included prayers and condolences for those who passed away in the terror attacks happened in Istanbul and Ankara. Özdemir also tackled the increasing wrong impression of Islam in the west and linked it with the “so called Muslims” who represent Islam with “carnage and terror.
“WE ALL NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR”
Prof. Dr. Mürteza Bedir from Istanbul University and the Turkish Parliament, talked about the Muslim Identity issues and Islam Perceptions in the West. By stating that those who have been living in Europe and the UK meets with Islamophobia way earlier. “We all know that there is history behind Islamophobia, we also do know that these have been conspired willingly for political profits. In the colonial era it was a tactic to maintain the efficacy of colonial enterprises to corrupt Islam perceptions so that it would lead to the continuity of colonial vails. It is correct that still some people compose these works to proliferate Islamophobia in firms and think-thank companies. We need to have a look hard in the mirror and not hesitate to talk about the corruptions happening amongst us as the real Muslim people. That should be our primal policy and it would strengthen us.” Says Prof. Bedir.