News reports in print and visual media have covered the incident in which Edwin Wagensveld, the leader of the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) movement, tore the Holy Quran in front of our State's Embassy in the Hague and the Embassies of Pakistan, Indonesia and Denmark in the Hague.
Numerous international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (UN) and the European Convention on Human Rights, have ensured freedom of religion and conscience, prohibiting discrimination based on individuals' religion, beliefs, or sect. Despite this crucial protection at the treaty level, Islamophobia has persisted in the context of hate speech and hate crimes for an extended period, raising concerns with alarming frequency.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe defined hate speech in Recommendation R (97) 20, adopted in 1997, as "any form of expression that disseminates, promotes, supports, or justifies all forms of intolerance based on hatred, including racist hatred, xenophobia, antisemitism, or aggressive nationalism." The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe evaluates hate forms based on intolerance, including racist hatred, xenophobia, and aggressive nationalism, as part of hate speech.
The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), in its General Policy Recommendation No. 5 on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination Against Muslims, states that “Governments have a duty to support freedom of religion and to ensure that all believers, without exception, can live and thrive in the societies in which they live without fear of intolerance and discrimination.” included the evaluation. (ECRI, General Policy Recommendation No. 5 on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination Against Muslims: https://rm.coe.int/5-nolu-ecri-genel-politika-tavsiye-karar-mus-lumanla-ra-kars-hosgorusuzl/16808da199, E.T. 23/9/2023).
In the Report dated 13 April 2021 published by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, it is emphasized that suspicion, discrimination and open hatred against Muslims have reached "epidemic proportions". As a result of our State playing an active role in the fight against anti-Islamism and intolerance towards Islam in the international arena and continuing to fight in this field, March 15 was accepted as the "International Day Against Islamophobia" by the United Nations General Assembly in 2022. Another development that was welcomed by our State was that on July 12, 2023, the UN Human Rights Council described the attacks against the Holy Quran as "religious hatred".
Despite the fact that freedom of religion and belief is guaranteed by international agreements and positive developments in the international arena, hate speech and hate crimes against Islam and Muslims are on the rise, especially in Europe. Anti-Islamism/Islamophobia emerges as one of the most common manifestations of discrimination and hate speech on the basis of religion and belief in the world. Attacks on the Holy Quran are among the archaic actions resulting from Islamophobia (Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, “Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Symposium Papers Book”,  https://www.tihek.gov.tr/public/editor/uploads/1662712481.pdf  The increase in the frequency of repetition of such and such ongoing archaic fascistic discourses and actions against the sacred values of the Islamic religion poses a risk of preventing Muslims from participating in social and political life and fuels violence, xenophobia and marginalization in democratic societies where pluralism is based.
Our Institution, main mission of which is to protect and promote human rights, prevent discrimination and raise awareness on this issue, strongly condemns these actions, reminding once again that anti-Islamism has reached a level of hostility that turns into radical discriminatory attitudes and that hate-motivated actions have reached alarming levels.
Respectfully announced to the public.