Turkey's EU Minister Omer Celik calls Islamophobia a growing problem that affects European Muslims more and more each day.
The shift in European politics towards the extreme-right is what lies behind the growing problem of Islamophobia, Turkey's EU minister said Friday.
Omer Celik said the refugee crisis and terror threats, including Daesh attacks, also fueled the problem.
His remarks came in his address to a panel presenting the second annual "European Islamophobia Report" prepared by Ankara-based think tank SETA -- the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research.
The report, first presented in 2016, includes 27 national reports on Islamophobia in various European countries, with contributions from over 30 prominent European scholars.
Celik said Islamophobia grows more visible every day in the lives of Europe’s Muslims, adding it already "goes beyond hate speech."
"The fact that most of the migrants who are making their way to Europe are Muslims created a belief in European minds that Muslims could invade it [the continent], and this fueled Islamophobia," he said. [Anadolu Agency] Read more
