Turkish PM calls for curbs on free speech

The violent reaction to the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad underlines the need to impose limits on free speech according to Turkey’s prime minister Recep Yayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan, in a speech to the parliamentary assembly of the council of Europe in Strasbourg on Wednesday said that “freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to insult”.

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

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.

He warned that Islamophobia and xenophobia appeared to be gaining ground.

“There is a growing perception [in the Muslim world] that it is besieged and its values are under attack.”

“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.”

Erdogan said that every society had “sacred” values, whether religious, cultural or traditional, and nobody had the right to assault those values.

“We argue that freedom of expression can be restricted, and this has to be defined.”

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.”

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