Are Muslims better people?

Two days ago, I read something in the newspapers that really shocked me. It was a statement from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in which he defended the planned visit of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to Turkey.

In the end, al-Bashir, who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, or ICC, decided not to come. But the remarks by the Turkish prime minister make it clear that he still does not understand why so many other countries have a problem with the Turkish government’s welcoming attitude toward a suspect who is trying to escape justice. In fact, Erdoğan uses two arguments that are incomprehensible and deeply disturbing to many people in Turkey and abroad.

First, the Turkish prime minister simply denies even the possibility of genocide in Darfur, Sudan, because, he says, he visited the region and saw with his own eyes that there is no proof of genocide. I read this sentence several times because I could not believe my eyes. The most important Turkish politician claims that something did not happen because he did not see the evidence himself. It is strange from both a logical and a political point of view. Many good and bad things happen around the world that the Turkish prime minister does not see with his own eyes.

I sincerely hope that now, and in the future, Erdoğan will govern this country based on reports and information by others. I guess what the prime minister wanted to say is that he does not trust the many reports made by U.N. officials or renowned experts on the Darfur tragedy. Of course he has the right to disagree with these pieces of evidence. But it does not make any sense at all, to put it mildly, to deny that horrible things happened in Darfur simply because you yourself did not see the proof.

Erdoğan’s second comment is even more worrying. His main reason to trust the Sudanese president is the prime minister’s conviction that, I quote, “A Muslim can never commit genocide.”

How should one interpret this line? It could mean several things. First, that Erdoğan is convinced that a true believer in Islam is not capable of committing genocide because it goes against the core values of the religion. Unfortunately, there are many examples of Muslims committing terrible crimes based on their particular interpretations of Islam. Still, we may give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt here because what he may have wanted to express is his honest belief that Muslims should not do such things.

Second, Erdoğan’s remarkable revelation could indicate that he thinks Muslims are better people, morally and ethically, than Christians, Buddhists or non-believers. This feeling of superiority is deeply ingrained in all religions but becomes extremely problematic when translated into political analysis or state laws. Does the prime minister really believe that only non-Muslims could be guilty of genocide because their religion or ideology has, in one way or another, stimulated or at least allowed for that possibility?

Terrible things have happened in Darfur and elsewhere in the world. It is up to the courts to determine whether in a specific case a particular person is guilty or not. Nobody should be exempted from trial – no Muslim, no Christian, no atheist. People of all faiths have been found guilty of cruel and inhuman behavior in the past and I am afraid we will see more of that in the future.

The Turkish prime minister did himself and his country a disservice by making this statement. It plays into the hands of those in Turkey and abroad who suspect him of being a fundamentalist deep down. It also raises serious doubts about Erdoğan’s willingness and ability to guide Turkey on the difficult road into the European Union, a union based on values that are not exclusively tied to one particular religion or ideology.