Erdoğan calls for united stance against Islamophobic rhetoric

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Muslims need to adopt a strong united stance against the Islamophobic rhetoric that associates Islam with terrorism.

Addressing the Muslim and Turkish community in New York, Erdoğan warned if the strategy of labeling all Muslims as terrorists was not overcome, the rights and freedoms of Muslims living in the U.S. would be threatened.

The president criticized the use of term "Islamic terrorism" and said no one had the right to link religion with terror or treat Daesh terrorists as representatives of Islam.

"Everywhere in the world, people belonging to different faith groups commit acts of terrorism. However, only when the perpetrator is a Muslim, the term "Islamic terror" is used and if the terrorist is a member of another faith, the incident is treated as an ordinary crime," Erdoğan said.

Speaking about Turkish people living in U.S., Erdoğan said Turkey promoted a policy of supporting the integration of Turkish people living abroad, not their assimilation.

Turkish-American people who have successfully integrated in the US carry a great value for Turkey, Erdoğan said, calling on Turkish people to seek administration roles in the U.S.