"Muslims should stand against extremists"
ISTANBUL (AA) – King Abdullah of Jordan said on Wednesday that if they wanted a prosperous region, regional countries should solve Palestinian-Israeli dispute.
King Abdullah of Jordan attended a working breakfast held at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul by Turkish-Jordanian Business Council.
Abdullah noted that moderate Muslims should stand against the extremists and show the whole world that those extremists did not represent the real Muslim belief.
The world was facing a terrorism problem, Abdullah stated.
Abdullah said that many countries were saying that they should fight against extremists and terrorism but only fighting with extremists and terrorism was not enough.
Countries should also eliminate reasons of extreme movements and terrorism in order to eradicate them, Abdullah pointed out.
King Abdullah of Jordan said that extremists and terrorists could find supporters due to Israeli-Palestinian dispute and noted that it was the most important issue for Arab and Muslim world.
Therefore, Abdullah stated, Palestinian issue should be solved.
Abdullah noted that if that issue was not solved, regional countries could not establish the Middle East they wanted.
Private sector knew the potential of the region more than many people, Abdullah said.
Abdullah noted that Israeli-Palestinian dispute should be solved in order to make use of that potential.
That issue was affecting everybody, the United States, Turkey and Jordan, Abdullah said. And, therefore, he noted, if regional countries really wanted a prosperous region, then they should solve Palestinian-Israeli dispute.
Abdullah said that if they could solve that issue, need for fight against terrorism would diminish by 70-80 percent.
Noting that there were problems the Islam was facing, Abdullah said that there was especially fight between moderates and extremists in Islam.
Abdullah noted that the silent majority should make its voice be heard and it could be achieved mostly by education.
Problems that Islam was facing was long-term problems, Abdullah stated.
Abdullah said that military wars might last for a few more years and efforts would be exerted to eradicate terrorist networks and freeze finance of the terrorist organizations.
But, the long-term problem was related with education, Abdullah pointed out.
Moderate Muslims should stand against the extremists and say them that the Koran and Islam were not telling them to do what they were doing, Abdullah said.
Abdullah noted that education might last more than ten years and said that maybe, it was the first time they were discussing those issues related with Islam.
But, those issues should be discussed, Abdullah stated.
Abdullah said that majority of Muslims should show the whole world that extremists did not represent the real Muslim belief.
King Abdullah of Jordan promised to make free trade agreement with Turkey in the future on behalf of himself and the government.
There were problems in some sectors in his country since Jordan was a smaller country, Abdullah said.
Abdullah noted that ministers would meet soon and they would discuss how flexible they could be.
They wanted to sign a free trade agreement with Turkey, Abdullah said.
Expressing hope that Turkish government would take into consideration some concerns of Jordan, Abdullah said that two countries could reach an agreement if everybody worked frankly and private sectors of two countries would be very pleased with that agreement.
Asked by one of the participants how many documents a Turkish company should get from Jordanian authorities in order to invest in Aqaba, Abdullah said that his country was trying to form Ireland’s model and the government discussed that issue two weeks ago.
King Abdullah of Jordan said that his country would determine the procedures till the meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) to be held in Aqaba in May.
Noting that his country would solve the issue till that meeting, Abdullah said that a foreign company would get approval of only one authority after Jordanian officials solved the issue.
