Turkish parliament chief warns against rising racism in Europe

ANKARA (A.A) - February 26, 2012 - Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek has warned racism and neo-Nazi movements were on the rise in Europe, adding that political parties with extremist tendencies grew their popular support. "Unfortunately, racism gains strength in Europe with each passing day and political parties that assume such a stance increase their voter support. And there is the problem of Islamophobia," Cicek told the Anadolu Agency when commenting on his visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he participated in the Third Consultation Meeting of the Parliament Speakers of the G20 Countries in Riyadh. Cicek said certain European politicians chose the easy path to blame migrants for all the problems in their countries and they missed unemployment, crime, poverty and other social issues in their societies as core reasons for such ideologies to foster.  "There is a clash between not the civilizations but between barbarianisms in the world. Cultures and civilizations are in dialogue with each other," Cicek said.