ISTANBUL

Türkiye is an exemplary country where everyone enjoys freedom of religion and conscience and mutual respect prevails, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday as he hosted representatives of religious minorities in the country for an Iftar dinner in Ankara.

Addressing the event, Erdogan said religious communities can maintain their own institutions in Türkiye.

“Islamophobia, which has been on the rise in recent years, clearly threatens both our people and the culture of coexistence,” he said, adding: “Just as Islamophobia is a crime against humanity, anti-Semitism is also a crime, an evil that cannot be considered reasonable or legitimate.”

The president stressed Ankara has no tolerance for “Daesh/ISIS-like dark organizations that bomb mosques, churches, and synagogues indiscriminately, showing no respect even for places of worship.”