Maintaining UEU-Turkey negotiations open, and the fundamental role of a universal recognition of human rights and of the rule of law.
These were two key points stressed by the President of LEF International Relations Department Giulio Terzi during the conference “Populism, Islam and rule of law”, held last April 10th at the Embassy of Turkey in Rome and organized by Diplomatia and Luigi Einaudi Foundation.
Concerning the second topic, the prestigious Italian diplomatic stressed the fundamental important of the rule of law and of freedom of worship (Freedom of Religion and Belief – FORB), particularly highlighting the ongoing debate in Islamic and Arabic countries and societies.
Here is a part of his speech: “In my opinion, in order to have a positive outcome such debate must include the totality of the Arabs, and not only them. A wide and inclusive popular debate focusing on human rights and religion, on democracy and on Islam, on religion’s role in modern society, is the key for any revolution”.
In being a pillar of the human right to be informed, political debate represents an essential tool for change and participation in a democratic society. The revolution advocated by the Egyptian President Al-Sisi (and not only him) is intended to fail without an active popular participation. I am personally persuaded that the majority of Muslim society’s citizens supports democratic ideals as well as human rights, but too often this share of the population is silenced by an influential minority trying to deceitfully represent them, also in front of Western countries’ eyes.
A true political debate must give the voice to all the Muslims, not only to a bunch of people allegedly capable to look after particular interests. In these terms, I fully support the initiative “Secular Muslims” launched last week in Rome.
It is a project aiming to return those Muslims feeling mugged by other self-styled Muslims their freedom of religion. I strongly hope this initiative can represent the starting point for a wide and open debate on this topic, in Italy and beyond.”
