World Muslims looking up to Turkey with hope


Chicago - U.S.Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar, vice president of the Turkish Women's Democratic Association (KADEM) and the daughter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, addressed a huge gathering of Muslims of northern America in Chicago on Tuesday (early Wednesday in Turkey), which clearly showed that the Muslims of the world see Turkey as the bastion of Islam and the only hope for the survival of the Islamic nation (ummah) that is riddled with major challenges throughout the globe.What the U.S. taught Mrs. Erdoğan Bayraktar said was important but the response of a crowd of 10,000 cheering Muslims was even more significant at the annual event organized by MAS and ICNA, the umbrella organizations for the Muslims of America.The young Erdoğan explained to the crowd Turkey's efforts to help those oppressed masses of the world and the help extended by Turkey to the needy but she needn't have bothered. Because, speaker after speaker, the Muslims of northern America who come from different countries and reside in the U.S. as well as black American Muslims thanked Turkey for its contributions to the "ummah" and the help for those in Syria, Egypt and even Myanmar.Representatives for Syrian migrants thanked Turkey for being the only country in the world to extend a helping hand to the 3 million fellow citizens fleeing the disaster in their country and hosting them in the best possible conditions. Each time the crowd reacted with a thunderous applause.Representatives of Egypt thanked Turkey for hosting Egyptians fleeing Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's regime and the help Turkey extended to democracy in their country. Each time the crowd reacted with a thunderous applause.Representatives from the black American community made it a point of thanking President Erdoğan for being the only head of state to attend the funeral of Muhammed Ali. Yet another thunderous applause from the crowd. The list went on and on from Myanmar to Yemen.Every time the name of Erdoğan was mentioned, the crowd reacted with a thunderous applause.The brave fight of the Turkish people to save democracy on the night of the July 15 bloody coup attempt received a standing ovation from the massive gathering several times.Mrs. Erdoğan Bayraktar made a point that the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) led by Fetullah Gülen is more dangerous and deadly because it uses the peaceful and compassionate values of Islam, deceives masses throughout the world and thus is more dangerous than the Islamic State's Daesh terrorist group that is not only messing up Syria and Iraq, but is undertaking terrorist actions in Europe and in Turkey.Our own Daily Sabah also had a panel where our writers and contributors explained to those attending the Muslim gathering the facts as well as the lies that have been spread against Turkey. They stressed that Turkey is under a massive attack from a variety of sources from terrorist organizations like the Kurdish PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and Daesh and even left-wing militants, while some Western governments are supporting them.People are fully aware of the contributions of the Erdoğan administration to the Muslims of the world. Thus the burden is even heavier on us as we have to think of the survival of the nation of Islam as much as we cherish our own survival. If only the opposition in Turkey could have seen the expectations and the affection shown toward Turkey among these masses.