Cameron’s entire argument here rests on the proposition that Islam is a Religion of Peace that has been Hijacked by a Tiny Minority of Extremists. If that is false, then he is taking a course of extraordinary folly. “Turkey must join EU, says Cameron: ‘Those who are against are playing on fears of Islam,'” by Jason Groves in the Daily Mail, July 27 (thanks to all who sent this in):
David Cameron today accused critics of Turkey’s membership of the EU of playing on fears of Islam – as he pledged to ‘pave the road from Ankara to Brussels’.
In a speech in the Turkish capital the Prime Minister promised to ‘fight’ to help the Islamic state achieve its 50-year goal of EU membership.
He said that, by embracing the moderate Muslim nation, the EU can improve relations with the rest of the Islamic world.
And he hit out at those who ‘wilfully misunderstand Islam’ in order to oppose Turkey’s membership.
He said: ‘They see no difference between real Islam and the distorted version of the extremists.
‘They think the values of Islam can never be compatible with the values of other religions, societies or cultures.
‘All these arguments are just plain wrong. I want us to be at the forefront of an international effort to defeat them.’…