OIC ex-official: Islamophobia serious threat to global peace

Former OIC [Organisation of Islamic Conference] Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has said that Islamophobia is a serious threat to global peace.

Ihsanoglu, a member of the Friendship Group of the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, made the statement at the conference "Islamophobia as a specific form of racism and discrimination: new global and transnational challenges", APA reports.

He said that one of the serious problems he faced when he came to this post was the negative attitude of the West towards Islam. He stressed that now, in comparison with previous years, there is a noticeable negative trend towards Islamophobia in three directions.

"Manipulation in connection with Islam, presenting it as freedom of expression, and politicisation of Islamophobia, creation of legal frameworks, the institutionalisation of this and constitutionalisation of Islamophobia. We are determined to fight Islamophobia and move from confrontation to cooperation," he said.