Ankara will bring peace to Middle East, Syria, academic says

A renowned academic at the Center for Global Policy, Azeem Ibrahim underscored on Thursday that Turkey will bring peace to the Middle East, including Syria, with its firm stance prioritizing people and humanitarian issues.

Speaking at the panel "Being a Muslim in Syria, Rakhine, and the West," Ibrahim pointed out Turkey's resolute policy on humanitarian issues and policy against those who commit atrocities would help bring peace to the Middle East.

Ibrahim underscored that Turkey's steps for peace in Syria and its firm stance against the Bashar Assad regime is admirable, adding that Ankara should maintain its position against the regime.

Stressing that terrorism which exploits religion cannot find its place in Turkey unlike other regions in the world, Ibrahim said, "While 30,000 foreigners from European countries joined Daesh to fight in the name of the organization, there has been no support for the terrorist organization in Turkey. According to research, the only country whose citizens do not support Daesh is Turkey."

Underlining that traditional Islamic education is the fundamental reason for the lack of support for Daesh in the country, Ibrahim highlighted that research advises to extend this form of education to find long-term solutions to radical ideologies.

Commenting on refugees living in Turkey, Ibrahim indicated that 70 percent of the 60 million refugees in the world are Muslims and the work undertaken by Ankara for these refugees is unprecedented.

Touching on the sufferings Rohingya Muslims at the hands of Myanmar government, Ibrahim stressed that while the international community turned a deaf ear to the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to the Rohingya's aid, later playing a leading role in the crisis.