Islamic Countries Need Doctrines Far from Fundamentalism

Fadlallah spoke to a group of Turkish writers and intellectuals yesterday in Lebanon. He pointed out that Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) had initiated several policies aimed at encompassing ‘the other’. Fadlallah said that there were plans to estrange Turkey from the Middle East, but that they expected Turkey to assume a more active role in the region over the coming years. According to Fadlallah, if Turkey takes on a more active and leading role in Middle East policy, it will become a much more powerful country.

Fadlallah also touched on the dialogue taking place between Islamists and secular groups in Turkey. "Dialogue should be improved and common problems should be pondered. As far as I can see, Islamists are afraid of secular people and secular people are afraid of Islamists. But it should not be that way. The two groups should come together and understand each other better," added Fadlallah.

Fadlallah then stressed that there are some who do not think a universal Islamic country is a realistic probability. Fadlallah said that Muslim countries should come together under doctrines that are not fundamentalist. He also thinks that measures should be taken against terrorism: "We have to take a stand against terrorism. Because terrorism is blind. It kills Muslim, and non-Muslim, guilty and innocent all together. Our religion taught us to fight against terrorism."

According to Fadlallah, Turkey can be a part of European Union. However, the EU’s Turkey perspective is not that objective. He cited the accession of the Cypriot Greek side, a country behind Turkey, as the clearest example of the EU’s subjective perspective.