Turkish premier highlights "need for consultation" among Muslim nations

ISTANBUL (A.A) - November 21, 2011 - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that problems which Muslim nations faced stemmed from lack of consultation. "I believe that unbiased and sincere consultation would be a lasting remedy for the issues our countries, nations and the entire Muslim geography face today," Erdogan told Monday the 2nd Summit Meeting for Religious Leaders of Muslim Countries & Communities of African Continent in Istanbul.  Erdogan said meetings such as the Istanbul gathering could act as "a perfect platform" for boosting consultation among Muslim nations and for speeding up solutions to political, economic and social issues.      The five-day summit meeting brings together religious leaders from Muslim countries and communities in Africa. The event is hosted by Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs. Erdogan also warned against Islamophobia, which he described as "a threat of equal severity with racism and anti-semitism, which needs to shunned as a crime." "Today's world-wide negative perception of Muslims is not the fault of the religion itself but this very perception is fostered by those who misinterpret Islam," Erdogan said.     The Turkish premier also rejected what he described as "a black campaign to besmirch Muslims by picking out marginal examples" with an eye to associate Islam with terror, conflict, intolerance and poverty.   "Any wrongdoing committed by a single person cannot be generalized to an entire religion or a society. Any particular fault committed by a Muslim cannot be showcased as an evidence to blacken Islam," he said.