22nd
October, 2021
PRESS RELEASE :
MURIC TO FG : IGNORE ERDOGAN’S ALLEGATION
An Islamic
human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has appealed to
the Federal Government (FG) to ignore the allegation made by the visiting
Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that Turkish terrorists were in Nigeria.
The group advised FG to key into the pragmatic gains of the visit rather than
dissipate energy on a wild goose chase.
MURIC’s advice
was delivered by its director and founder, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Friday,
22nd October, 2021 via a public statement.
The statement
reads :
“We heartily welcome the bilateral agreements
signed by Nigeria and Turkey as they have the potential to boost economic and
military advancement in both countries. However, we take the Turkish president’s
allegation that there are Turkish terrorists in Nigeria with a pinch of salt. It is false, baseless and of
no consequence whatsoever.
“We are aware
of the existence of Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in the country but we
reject the attempt to label innocent Turkish citizens as terrorists just
because there is a political difference between them and their president.
“Nigerian opposition
groups are spread all over Europe and America but President Buhari does not
label them as terrorists. Neither does he tell his hosts to haunt them.
Instead, he treats all Nigerian citizens at home and in diaspora as his own
children. This is one area President Erdogan of Turkey needs to look into. He
derailed by veering into the issue of opposition members from his country who
reside in Nigeria. He should have ignored them.
“We acknowledge Erdogan’s role as a leading
mouthpiece of the Muslim world and a stout
defender of Islam particularly against Western stigmatization. But that does not confer on him the right to label
the opposition in his country as terrorists and to haunt them all over the
place. Erdogan should stick to what we know him for as the unrelenting defender
of world Muslims.
“Neither should
Erdogan’s humongous Muslim hero image becloud or diminish MURIC’s commitment to
protecting Allah-given fundamental human rights of Muslims in Nigeria, be it
individual or group. This is where the issue of protecting the rights of
members of HIzmet in Nigeria comes in.
“These people
are our fellow Muslims. It does not matter whether they are foreigners or
Nigerians. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said. ‘A Muslim is a brother to a fellow
Muslim’ (al-Muslim akhul-Muslim). Interestingly enough, we have not
heard of their involvement in any violent activity since their sojourn in this
country.
“Or is it terrorism to build
hospitals and establish schools? The terrorists that we know (Boko Haram) blow
up schools and hospitals. Is it terrorism to build boreholes for public
schools? Is it terrorism to assist Nigerians on hajj and sacrificial animals? Erdogan
is our hero as a defender of Islam but his allegation of terrorism against these
people does not hold any water at all.
“What we know
of them is that they build primary and secondary schools, universities and
hospitals. They also engage in humanitarian services, assisting
poor Muslims to meet religious obligations like hajj and sacrificial animals. They have been
in this country for more than 20 years (even before Erdogan became Prime
Minister) and some of the institutions established by them in Nigeria are two
decades old already. A coup which allegedly occurred in Turkey five years ago while
these people were still in Nigeria should not be hanged on their necks.
“Unfortunately
they are already being punished for what took place in their absence as they
are not allowed to return to Turkey ever since the coup. Members of their
families (wives, husbands, children, etc) who are in Turkey are not allowed to
travel out to join them.
“We can
understand the sentiment felt by any Muslim who regards Erdogan as a hero. We
also acknowledge that fact but MURIC is a human rights group trained to
identify and focus on infringements of Allah-given fundamental rights of Muslim
individuals and groups. We cannot allow ourselves to be carried away by emotions
of hero-worshipping. Our rights are our rights and Muslim rights are Muslims
rights.
“Besides,
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in his hadith advocated kindness to guests. He said, ‘Anyone
who believes in Allah and the last day should honour his guest’. By inference,
Turkish citizens in Nigeria and indeed all foreigners in this country are our
guests and we should treat them with kindness. We should also protect them.
“This is what
MURIC is doing regarding members of Hizmet in the country and we will not stop
doing so until we see evidence of their involvement in terrorist acts. It is
evil to label innocent people as terrorists. We will not subscribe to such
diabolical act. We know how it feels to be falsely accused. We have been
labelled as terrorists before. Who feels it knows it. We are determined to
stand by these innocent Muslims.
“Why is MURIC going so far? We are doing all these
because Allah commands Muslims to forbid evil (Glorious Qur’an 3:104). The Qur’an
describes Muslims as a people who enjoin righteousness and forbid evil (3:110).
Prophet Luqman commanded his son to forbid evil (31:17) and Muslims are
reminded by their Imams during the khutbah every Friday to avoid evil (16:90). The
fact is that anyone who protects our human rights is fighting or forbidding
evil and anyone who forbids evil in any form is a human rights activist.
“It is to this
extent that we must take a critical look at the sufferings of those who have
been denied the right of return to their countries and those who have been
disallowed from joining their families. MURIC as a human rights group may
recognise the heroic deeds of Erdogan but at the same time we will be failing
in our duty if we do not protect fellow Muslims who are facing persecution.
“To stay in
character, MURIC also has a duty to speak up for Erdogan tomorrow if any Western
country targets him for stereotyping. Erdogan should
continue to confront Western countries who demonise Islam instead of persecuting
powerless humanitarian workers and destroying products of decades of their hardwork.
“It
is fashionable these days to label political opponents and perceived enemies as
terrorists. It is all in an effort to manufacture legitimate allegations which
can be used to destroy opponents and most despots do this nowadays. It is a
strategy used by opportunists to destroy the opposition. They give the dog a
bad name in order to hang it.
“In May 2021 Algeria labelled the opposition (MAK) as a terrorist group.
Blacks involved in Black Lives Matter protests were called terrorists by Donald
Trump. A leading scholar of terrorism, Brian Jenkins, pulled the rug from under
despots when he observed in 1981 that terrorism ‘is what the bad guys do’. In
other words, terrorism is anything the opposition does. Like Trump, like
Erdogan.
“Nonetheless, FG deserves accolades for securing eight bilateral
agreements with Turkey. Some of the agreements include security, energy, mining
and hydrocarbons. We advise FG to key into these pragmatic gains of the
visit rather than dissipate energy on a wild goose chase. FG should ignore the allegation because Erdogan has no single shred of
evidence. It is false, baseless and of no consequence whatsoever.”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights
Concern (MURIC)
