Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan traveled to the Sudanese state of Darfur in March 2006, making him the first Turkish prime minister ever to visit Sudan. He attended an official ceremony at the airport in the state capital, Nyala, before proceeding to the Governor's Office.
Speaking there, Erdoğan argued that labeling violence as "Islamic terror" is unjustifiable, noting that the world does not apply similar religious labels to Christian or Jewish violence.
He drew on the 13th-century Anatolian poet Yunus Emre to illustrate that Islamic tradition holds all of creation sacred, and he said that any Muslim who commits murder does so out of ignorance, not faith. He emphasized that Islam, whose very name signifies peace, cannot condone the taking of human life.
Erdoğan broadened his remarks to include all three major monotheistic religions, saying none of them permits killing. He also pointed to escalating tribal conflict in Iraq as a cautionary example, and stated that such violence is equally unacceptable in Darfur.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in March 2006, in its own words.