MALAYSIA and Turkey will cooperate to form a movement to tackle Islamophobia at the global level, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday.

The matter was discussed during a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday afternoon, he added.

“We discussed Islamophobia. Erdogan and I agreed to head this effort together. Erdogan said could we both start a movement and do something to counter attacks against Islam, especially in the United States and Europe.

“I said please, I agreed and I said we will prepare a (working) paper and discuss the matter. He replied that he intended to come to Malaysia as soon as possible,” he said during his speech at the Prime Minister with the People gathering at Dataran Rakyat Guar Perahu, Permatang Pauh last night.

Anwar also shared that Erdogan asked him to be present with him at the United Nations general assembly in September to hold meetings and discuss how to tackle Islamophobia.

Anwar said Islamophobia, especially prevalent in Western countries, led to acts like the burning of Qurans in Sweden.

“On Quran burnings, I issued a very strong statement condemning such acts and I then instructed the order to print a million Qurans, including those in the Swedish language, to be distributed worldwide,” he said.

Anwar, in his capacity as Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, also urged voters in Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency to deliver a handsome victory to the PH-Barisan Nasional alliance.

The prime minister, whose working visit to Penang ended today, said voters here need to support unity government party candidates especially those contesting in Seberang Jaya, Permatang Pasir and Penanti state constituencies.

Voters in Selangor, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan will elect their next state governments on August 12, with early voting on Tuesday. – Bernama, August 6, 2023.