Erdogan to EU: Limit free speech

Turkish PM Erdogan was visiting the parliamentary assembly of the council of Europe in Strasbourg on Wednesday. There he made this statement:

The violent reaction to the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad underlines the need to impose limits on free speech.

This is so brilliant it takes a while to sink in.

Mere mortals like you or me would think that those violent reactions would underline the need to impose limits on religion motivated violence. Then again, I am not Erdogan, I am just a lowly blogger.

But dear Recep isn't done yet:

All freedoms have a limit. You cannot have unlimited freedoms, there has never been unlimited freedom of expression in history.

And you are probably a bit of an expert on 'unlimited freedom of expressions', aren't you? Remember Orhan Pamuk?

Erdogan said that a lack of religious and cultural tolerance towards Islam by the west could fuel a rise in extremism and lead indirectly to terrorism.

You mean 'religious and cultural tolerance' like this?

The combination of these trends threatens to turn the west and the Islamic world into adversaries. Terrorism perpetrated in the name of religion will lead to a global crisis.

So, two questions: Who is actually perpetrating that terrorism in the name of religion, and why is the West to blame for those perpetrating it again?

The Turkish prime minister also said that Europe’s Muslim population was becoming increasingly more isolated, as seen in the recent rioting in France, and much more needed to be done to incorporate “new communities”.

“Europe needs to show more affection to the people living in ghettos and integrate them into society.”

Well, dear Recep, that would be so much easier if showed a little 'affection' to the country they live in, earn their money, enjoy their education and services, instead of reserving it exclusively for the world-wide Ummah. It would be so much easier if they would leave our cars and shops alone, if they would harm our filmmakers, writers and opinionmakers with subpoenas only.

But alas, an increasing number of your co-religionists are bent on usurping our little corner of Earth for the greater glory of the Big Black Stone idol, violent or otherwise. Don't you think that explains the somewhat suspicious attitudes of an increasing number of non-muslims in Europe, dear Recep? Not even a little?

(crossposted at Klein Verzet)