You know, because the Islamic world is problem-free.

Via Toronto Star:

[A]s foreign minister (2003-07), Gul spearheaded Turkey’s unsuccessful bid to join the European Union. Most Turks have soured on the idea, given European resistance, and Turkey’s economy booming and Europe’s tanking.

But it’s a quest that Gul still advocates as essential to keeping Turkey on the path to European liberal standards. At the same time, he’s pained by the West’s Islamophobia.

“It’s the same as anti-Semitism,” he said.

“It reminds us that while the West has high levels of education and income, it has diseases that are not easily curable. The diseases of the East, mainly illiteracy and poverty, are easier to fix than the diseases of the West, such as anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

“Islamophobia poses particular risks in today’s globalized world. It can be costly as well as a menace to world peace, increase risks to the lives of ordinary people and complicate the world political situation.

“Just like the world tackled anti-Semitism, we need to take measures to contain anti-Islamism.”

Gul mentioned the recent short anti-Muhammad film made in the U.S. by a member of the radicalized Egyptian Coptic Christian diaspora and funded by a fundamentalist Christian.

“When we look at the people behind the film and their background, we can see which groups and people they were associated with. This speaks for itself. They are full of hate for Muslims and Islam

“I believe in freedom of speech but I also believe that this discourse of hate, and incitement to hate and violence should in no way be considered part of free speech. If we don’t curb it, it will only lead to graver problems.

“The western world has troops in Afghanistan and is very much engaged in the Middle East. On the other hand, it permits deliberate acts of hate that create security issues, and innocent people from both sides suffer.”

What does he think of the violent protests in parts of the Muslim world against insults to Islam, the Qur’an and Muhammad?

“Islamophobic needling provocations will happen again. They are deliberate. But they must be ignored. The Muslim world should not react in the way it has.”