Turkey's head of religious affairs, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Görmez, condemned on Thursday the deadly attack on the Paris based weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Görmez condemned the attack by saying, "The attack carried out by using the name of Islam's prophet to take revenge is an attempted attack to erase the noble values that were brought to humanity by the Prophet Muhammed, the messenger of mercy and peace. In other words, that attack is a direct attack on Islam and the followers of this noble religion, Muslims."

According to Görmez, it is significant that the attack coincides with the period when Islamophobic attacks are on the rise. His statement condemned the "negative perception that is being created against Islam throughout the world" which he described as "an attempt to trigger conflict between religions and civilizations".

He called for "all humanity to damn every kind of action that will lead to atrocity, horror, violence, and death", and emphasised the need for justice - "Every death due to terrorism increases the need for righteousness, rule of law, justice and peace every passing day".

Here is Professor Dr Mehmet Görmez's statement in full."This attack is an assault on all humanity." This attack is not just an assault on the staff of a magazine against France, against Europe or against the West; this attack is an assault on all peoples of the world who value peace irrespective of whether they do not believe in a religion or if they do believe in a religion whether they are from this or that faith. As one of these people, as a Muslim whose duty is to uphold peace as a prime responsibility and as the President of Diyanet I have to state that I am in a state of deep sadness. Above all I strongly condemn the attack and I share the grief of all humanity led by the people of France."Those who hope to achieve something by massacring civilians and spreading terror in the hearts of people cannot succeed…"We are people who believe in Allah's message of peace and the prophets of Allah, including Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus and Prophet Muhammad who were sent as guides to carry this message. Those who undertake this inhuman act, those who guide them and those who use them as a pawn in such an obvious manner cannot have any respect for Allah, cannot have any commitment to a community and cannot belong to a religion. Those who hope to achieve something by massacring civilians and spreading terror in the hearts of people cannot succeed neither in Iraq, nor in Syria nor in France.

"All humanity should damn every kind of action that will lead to atrocity, horror, violence and death…"

We as Muslims cannot approve any action related to terrorism and violence. No religion, no faith, no system of belief can aim to kill people irrespective of the cause. On the contrary all religions led by Islam aim to give life to people. All humanity should damn every kind of action that will lead to atrocity, horror, violence and death. Violence and terrorism should be regarded as a crime against humanity without any ifs and buts irrespective of where it comes from and what the cause is, irrespective of who is targeted and what the target is. "This is a direct attack against Islam and Muslims who believe in this supreme faith…" This massacre which was carried out by using the name of the Prophet of Islam and with the pretext of taking revenge is a clear attack aimed at destroying the supreme values that Prophet Muhammad presented to humanity. In other words this is a direct attack against Islam and Muslims who believe in this supreme faith. No one and no Muslim can retaliate against the disrespectful and low-brow views displayed against Prophet Muhammad is an ugly manner that the Prophet will never ever approve. Those who accept Prophet Muhammad as their guide can only adopt the attitude adopted by the Prophet who was harassed and molested by attackers in Taif."The negative perception that is being created against Islam throughout the world is an attempt to trigger conflict between religions and civilizations…"I have to state with sadness that both the events in the Islamic world and the negative perception being created against Islam in the world because of these events is an attempt to trigger conflict between religions and civilizations. Welfare and security in the world cannot be achieved by provoking communities of nations, religions, races and communities. It is clear from the bitter experiences we have suffered in this century that violence, oppression and tyranny has created other acts of violence and deaths. You cannot provide security for the community by putting limitations on freedom of expression and belief and declaring the Muslim identity of people as null and void. "Engineers of perception are poking fun at us by having the killers repeat words that are symbols of our religion…"The fact that those who perpetrated these attacks have used Islamic symbols in a very open manner is a perception manipulation. Engineers of perception are poking fun at us by having the killers repeat words that are symbols of our religion. In fact they are not only poking fun at Muslims but they are also poking fun at the Western public opinion. This attack like other terrorist attacks in the past is aimed at seize the most basic concepts of Muslims, twist and transform them."Islam's concepts are being manipulated to fit the perception that is being created…"Islam's indispensable concepts are being seized, they are being held hostage, and are being manipulated to fit the perception that is being created. The concept of "tekbir" (chanting "Allah is great") which we use often as an indispensable and exceptional declaration in good or bad times is being bastardized by groups with shady aims and is being exploited for dark purposes which have nothing to do with Islam, faith or wisdom. We understand the deep anguish and sorrow that has developed in the western public opinion in view of this deplorable event and we too share the anguish and the pain. However, we would like to draw attention to the fact that this anguish and pain can be manipulated to turn into declarations of condemnation of all Muslims within the framework of hate speeches against Muslim peoples and resident and migrant Muslims in the West. It is unacceptable for the use and even hijacking of the Islamic symbols in such a naked fashion during these events by those who perpetrated the attacks. "It is significant that such an act has been carried out in times when Islamophobia has turned into hatred and enmity and is spreading…"Every statement tying this event with Islam is as destructive as the attack itself and can yield negative results. As in the example of PEGIDA it is significant that such an act has been carried out in times when Islamophobia has turned into hatred and enmity and is spreading. I invite our Muslim brothers and sisters living in the West and the people of the West who have any intelligence and who cherish fairness to be sensitive towards the traps that are being set up by the engineers of perception."Every death due to terrorism increases the need for righteousness, rule of law, justice and peace every passing day…"Led by the hundreds of daily deaths being suffered in the Islamic geography every death due to terrorism increases the need for righteousness, rule of law, justice and peace every passing day. It is a great necessity and a divine duty for humanity to pass this test by mobilizing the common conscience with common sense of intellectuals, scientists, scholars, politicians, men of religion and all international organizations to secure rule of law, justice and peace.

"I pray to the Almighty that humanity distances itself from the state of insanity, hatred, ferocity and violence and acts with common sense."

As we go through these hard times I pray to the Almighty that humanity distances itself from the state of insanity, hatred, ferocity and violence and acts with common sense and state that I wholeheartedly share the deep grief of all humanity led by the French people.