Turks Accuse Pope Of "Islamophobia" — A Good Development

Pope Francis is wildly popular. He is also someone who hasn’t minced words about Muslim treatment now, and in the recent past, of Christians. His statement about Muslim Turks and the mass-murder of Christian Armenians (;priests, and their pregnant wives, were often favored targets for Turkish bayonets) has elicited the cry, from Davutoglu, a helpfully stupid man, of “islamophobia.” That single act has done more to discredit, among a vast public, the use of that term “islamophobia” to deflect or silence criticism of Islam and its adherents, than any other. The Pope did a good thing. How good may not yet be widely understood.

Here is Davutoglu’s remark:

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu: “We expect religious leaders to make a call for peace and avoid Islamophobia. The Pope’s statements are a misinterpreration and misreading of history, acknowledging one group’s pain and neglecting the other’s. This statement paves the way to rising racism in Europe and accuses Muslims and Turks of a collective crime. The timing of this statement is very unfortunate, wrong and inappropriate.”