(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Experts at the TRT World Forum in Istanbul spoke yesterday about the rise in xenophobia and Islamophobia around the world, and how these issues were being politicised to split communities apart.
TRT World's first international forum in Istanbul aims to create a global platform where world issues are discussed and thoroughly analysed.
Under the theme of Inspiring Change in an Age of Uncertainty, the TRT World Forum session held a panel titled 'Capitalising on Fear: The Politicisation of Xenophobia and Islamophobia.
Former UK state minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi shared her experience from a counter-terrorism meeting when someone there asked her how could they fight against terrorism when the enemy 'is at the table.
'Despite living in the UK for 60 years, they were implying that I did not belong there and they do not trust me. For them, I was the enemy within, she added.
Online movement 'More in Common co-founder Brendan Cox said: 'Dehumanising, ignoring one's humanity, neighbour murdering their neighbour are issues that begin to affect the centre of politics.
He also said: 'When attacks in the US are examined, we can see that it resulted from far-right, not from extreme Islamism.
Farid Hafez, lecturer and researcher at University of Salzburg, pointed out a 'structural issue beneath Islamophobia.
'I prefer to look at Islamophobia through colonialism perspective to see the bigger picture, Hafez said.
Head of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council Maha Azzam said 'a negative perspective was being created on Islam and political Islam.
The TRT World forum is hosting a total of 400 guests, including scholars, academicians, politicians, journalists, representatives of NGOs, and members of civil society.
Political leaders, analysts and decision makers gathered in Istanbul on Wednesday for the first annual TRT World Forum.
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim inaugurated the event aimed at highlighting the most pressing issues the world faces today with a particular focus on humanitarian crisis.
He said: 'Increasing racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and other discrimination in our age are marginalising people and making societies more divided and fragile.
Yildirim added that terrorism was the enemy of humanity and should be condemned without hesitation and fought through global co-operation.
Presidential spokesman Ibrah?m Kalin said: 'We are (at) the very beginning of a new process where the current global order is being questioned seriously.
'You hear voices coming from the non-Western world, from China, India, Africa, Turkey, Latin America, which make up 90% of the world. That's why our president has been calling for a reform of the security council.
The goal of Turkey's first English-language news network, TRT World, is to give a voice to oppressed people, TRT director general Ibrahim Eren said. TRTWorld
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