SAKARYA, Turkey
Turkey’s religious affairs head has lashed out at terrorist groups such as Daesh for their twisted portrayal of Islam and its holy book Quran to further their violent agenda in the Middle East.
Addressing the opening of a conference titled "Religious Services Abroad" in Turkey's western Sapanca district on Monday afternoon, Head of Turkey’s Presidency for Religious Affairs Mehmet Gormez said: "How unfortunate it is to present a book that sets about making peace a mutual goal as if it approves bigotry committed in the region".
His remarks came as Turkish fighter jets bombed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) camps in northern Iraq and Daesh targets in Syria.
"How come the book of Allah has been transformed into a means of justifying violence and torture that disregards human dignity?" he asked.
Gormez strongly objected to the abuse of Islamic supreme sources like Quran and turning its verses into slogans and weapons that hurt Muslims.
"How can they call jihad, which originally means the way to eradicate oppression and malice from the earth, as a name of the culture of killing, looting and enslaving people and raping women?" he added.
Gormez said that Islam was a religion of welfare, peace and tranquility for all.
Turkey recently launched airstrikes against Daesh and the PKK in Syria and Iraq. On Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday, Turkish jets bombed PKK camps in northern Iraq for the first time in the last two-and-a-half years. Turkey also launched attacks against Daesh. Turkish jets again hit PKK targets inside and outside Turkey on Sunday night.
