ANKARA: Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag on Monday slammed aFrench manifesto calling for the abrogation of the holy Quran.
The scandalous manifesto was published in the French daily Le Parisien onApril 21, and was signed by approximately 300 intellectuals andpoliticians, including former President Nicolas Sarkozy and former PrimeMinister Manuel Vall.
“Three hundred French intellectuals/politicians including former Frenchpresident/fierce Islam enemy Sarkozy sought the removal of some verses fromthe Quran on the basis that they spread violence and anti-Semitism. Theyare the imbeciles of the 21st century and the Western version of Daesh,”Bozdag said in a post shared via his official Twitter account.
He added that “Sarkozy and the enemies of Islam” would not “ever be able tochange the Quran.”
Bozdag shared the 23rd verse from the Quran’s Surah Al-Baqarah. “And if youare in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], thenproduce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other thanAllah, if you should be truthful.”
The deputy premier also shared a portion of Surah Al-An’am’s 34th verse:“And none can alter the words of Allah.”
Bozdag posted Surah Al-An’am’s 115th verse: “And the word of your Lord hasbeen fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words, and He isthe Hearing, the Knowing.”
The hatefully racist manifesto has been met with outcry by Muslims inFrance and abroad. The manifesto wrongfully declared that the Quran incitesviolence, and stated that this violence is a part of “new anti-Semitism”perpetrated by French Muslims. The French imam who serves at the GrandMosque of Bordeaux, Tareq Oubrou, called the manifesto “nearly blasphemous.”
French manifesto on Quran ‘barbarism, deviance’
“It is literally barbarism and deviance that 300 people, including formerPresident Nicolas Sarkozy and former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, prepareda declaration demanding some expressions in the Quran be removed,” NumanKurtulmus, Turkey’s culture and tourism minister, said on Twitter overnightSunday.
Stressing that the manifesto drew limited support, Kurtulmus added,however, that it was concerning that the manifesto was signed by peopleseeking to govern the country.
“The level of racism and anti-religion [approach] is initially insultingEurope’s own values,” Kurtulmus added.
Kurtulmus explained that trying to hold the Quran and the societiesterrorized by global power wars responsible for violence is an expressionof the guilt feelings of the environments that were the true perpetratorsof the violence and chaos.
“I strongly condemn for the sake of their shabby political calculationsthis accusation of the Qur’an, the sole source of truth for the Islamicreligion which means peace and of the members of this supreme religion,”Kurtulmus said, adding that he would not respect what he called a “fascist”declaration.