By Omer Aydin

STRASBOURG

An Azeri lawmaker accused European politicians Thursday of using the Daesh terrorist organization as an excuse to spread anti-Muslim propaganda.

Ganire Pashayeva, part of the Azeri delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and a member of Azerbaijan’s Parliament, spoke at PACE’s autumn session in Strasburg on behalf of the Free Democrats Group.

She reminded the group that Daesh is an international terrorist organization.

“So there are people from various nations and different religions in this organization. For this reason, there should not be given an opportunity to those who see Daesh as a terrorist organization consisting of only Muslims and those who aim to create negative thoughts against Muslims. I object to the calls of some European politicians against Islam and Muslims by pretending it is the doings of Daesh.”

Pashayeva said she visited Syrian refugees near the Turkish border with Syria and Iraq, the people there expected more help from Europe.

She said Daesh damaged local people as well as Muslims in the region.

“The rise of anti-Islam thoughts in Europe annoys all of us, and we all together should make efforts against it,” she said.

Pashayeva also thanked Turkey for combating Daesh and hosting over 3 million Syrians and providing all kinds of support to them.

She also called on Europe to pay attention to the oppression faced by Turkmens in Bayirbucak and Mount Turkmen in northwestern Syria.

Turkey hosts 3.2 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world, according to official figures.

Ankara has spent more than $25 billion helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Syria has remained locked in that vicious battle since 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by the conflict and millions more displaced, according to UN figures.