The United Nations included the desecration of holy books, including the Quran, in a draft resolution on hate crimes, racism and discrimination in response to Türkiye's proposal, Ankara's Permanent Representative to UNESCO Ambassador Gülnur Aybet said Friday.
Aybet wrote on X that "under Türkiye’s leadership, we added the UNGA resolution declaring crimes against holy books as violations of international law to the UNESCO decision draft.
"While stating our support for combating all forms of hate crimes, I emphasized the alarming increase in crimes associated with hatred against Islam in recent years," Aybet said, adding that she noted UNESCO should align with U.N. resolutions about this.
"The draft resolution was accepted with the amendments we proposed. Let's continue the fight.”
In July 2023, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously adopted a Morocco-sponsored resolution calling acts of violence against religious symbols, holy books, and places of worship a violation of international law.
