French proposal on Quran is ‘out of line’

By Sena Guler

ANKARA

The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs slammed Monday a French proposal to remove some verses from the Quran, saying it is “out of line”.

The directorate issued a written statement blasting the French proposal, which took the form of a manifesto signed by 300 French authors and politicians, saying that the signatories "are the Western versions of Daesh" terrorists, suggesting that they too have distorted Islam.

It said that certain groups in France had started a smear campaign against the holy book of Muslims, rejecting the call as "provocative".

"It is disrespectful for the group, which adopts this understanding, to propose the removal of some verses from the Quran with an attitude that is out of line," the statement said, stressing that misinterpreting the Quranic verses in a context-free manner cannot be approved, neither scientifically nor morally.

“According to the Quran, whatever his/her belief is, human life is valuable, untouchable, and the unjust killing of a human being is like killing all humans, and the survival of a human being is like keeping all the humankind alive.”

The statement strongly condemned “such provocative acts, which will hurt all Muslims and disrupt peace in the world” and called on the global community to be more "equitable".

On April 21, 300 prominent French figures, including former President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Prime Minister Manuel Valls signed a manifesto published in the French daily Le Parisien and demanded some parts of the Quran, which they claimed have included violence and anti-Semitic references, be removed.