Turkey’s Gormez blames Iraq occupation for Daesh advent

Turkey’s head of religious affairs has blamed the occupation of Iraq for the emergence of Daesh terrorist organization in the region.

In remarks made at a meeting with the mufti of Tripoli and northern Lebanon, Malik Shaar, in Ankara Monday, Gormez said: “If it weren’t for the long occupation of Afghanistan neither Taliban nor al-Qaeda would have become the shadow of the occupation. If it weren’t for the occupation of Iraq neither Daesh nor others would exist.”

But, he said that even if such groups were “insurrections,” the Muslim world must figure out what needs to be done to protect the minds of Muslim children.

Even though Daesh appeared on the international scene in 2014 with the invasion of large swathes of territories in Syria and Iraq, the roots of the terrorist organization go back to post-2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

“Today, we are at the point when words have failed us,” Gormez said, noting the ongoing wave of violence and terrorism in the Muslim world.

He said religious institutions had now a bigger role to play to save people from the ideologies of terrorist organizations.

Gormez said violence and terrorism were being fueled by what he called "murderous networks."

He also referred to the “fatwa confusion” in the Muslim world. Fatwa is an Islamic religious decree issued by scholars.

“The fatwas that legitimate these actions [such as terrorism] have no grounds in Islam,” Gormez said.

In his remarks, Shaar said Daesh terror organization had been created “to pollute the clean face of Islam.”