Erdogan: European Headscarf Ban ‘Started a Clash Between the Cross and the Crescent’

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“Where is the liberty of religion? They have commenced a struggle between the cross and crescent.”

Where is the liberty of religion in Turkey? Christians can go to jail for proselytizing, it’s virtually impossible to get permission to build a church, and the government has closed the only Orthodox seminary, slowly choking the Orthodox Church to death in its historic seat of Constantinople. Erdogan wouldn’t dream of granting full rights to Christians and other non-Muslims in Turkey. But he claims that steps that Europeans have taken to preserve their own culture and identity are starting a clash of civilizations. With Islamic supremacists, no matter what they themselves do, it’s always the kuffar’s fault.

“Erdogan: European Headscarf Ban ‘Started a Clash Between the Cross and the Crescent,’” by John Hayward, Breitbart, March 17, 2017:

In addition to his customary invective against European governments for refusing to allow his ministers to rally Turkish expatriates behind him, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that the EU’s new ban on headscarves in the workplace would launch “a struggle between the cross and the crescent.”

“Where is the liberty of religion? They have commenced a struggle between the cross and crescent. There is no other explanation than this. I am saying this clearly: Europe is heading toward the days just before World War II,” said Erdogan, as rendered by Hurriyet Daily News.

Euractiv transcribes Erdogan’s quote as, “The European Union’s court, the European Court of Justice, my esteemed brothers, have started a crusade struggle against the crescent,” which would be even more incendiary. Jihad and Islamist groups perpetually accuse Western powers of conducting another “crusade” against Muslims.

“Shame on the EU. Down with your European principles, values, and justice,” Erdogan told his supporters.

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In a tirade on Wednesday, Erdogan said the “spirit of fascism is roaming the streets of Europe,” comparing the treatment of Muslims to how the Nazis treated Jews.

“The fear of the Turks is beginning to appear. The fear of Islam is beginning to appear. They are even afraid of the migrants looking for asylum. They fear everything which originates elsewhere; they are hostile to everything that is not from there,” he thundered.

Also speaking on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu predicted that “holy wars” would soon begin in Europe.

As translated by Hurriyet Daily News, Cavusoglu said:

Now the election is over in the Netherlands. … When you look at the many parties you see there is no difference between the social democrats and fascist [Geert] Wilders. All have the same mentality. Where will you go? Where are you taking Europe? You have begun to collapse Europe. You are dragging Europe into the abyss. Holy wars will soon begin in Europe.

“They killed each other 100 years ago because they were of different faiths, but they learned a lesson from this and set up the European Union and the Council of Europe,” Cavusoglu continued, prompting a bit of head-scratching from Hurriyet about exactly what he was driving at….