ISLAMABAD - "The Middle East issue is not a problem of only Middle Eastern countries. It concerns whole world," Turkish State Minister Mehmet Aydin said on Wednesday.
In an interview with the A.A, Aydin, who is currently in Pakistani capital of Islamabad to attend the (OIC) Foreign Ministers` Conference, said "in my speech at the conference I referred to developments in the Middle East. If problems encountered are not resolved, they will have harmful consequences not only for the Middle East, but for the whole world."
"I also held a series of talks about Turkish community living in Western Thrace (Greece). Usually the EU criticizes us of failing to take necessary measures to protect the rights of minorities in Turkey. But the truth is that Turks living in Western Thrace were forbidden even to define themselves as Turk. They are not allowed to elect their own mufti and/or administrators of their foundations," he said.
"We also discussed the Islamophobia, which is on the rise in the world. Actually, we should work together with all western countries to prevent such a misunderstanding. We should inform western public opinion on the Islamic faith. We should also organize international conferences on Islam civilization," Aydin added.