DUSHANBE, February 6, Asia-Plus — On Saturday January 4, Igor Sattorov, a spokesman for the Tajik MFA, read out at a briefing in Dushanbe a statement made over the publication by a number of European media of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
“It is insulting and provocative act being contrary to universally recognized norms of moral and ethics and in no circumstances meeting interests of establishment of friendly relationships between the peoples and promotion of dialogue between civilizations,” the Tajik MFA spokesman noted.
According to him, this disgraceful and blasphemous trick provokes incitement of hatred between the peoples and causes serious damage to constructive interaction between the east and the West.
“Tajikistan, the overwhelming majority of population of which are Muslims, consistently speaking for mutual respect for sacred objects strongly condemns this disgusting action and stresses again that no goal, whether it be political or ideological one, gives the right of insulting supreme human values and sacred senses of people. We are convinced that civilized society should invariably and decisively stop phenomena of such kinds,” the statement by the Tajik MFA says.
We will recall that the global controversy over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad has been sparked. More European newspapers have reprinted the drawings originally published by “Jyllands Posten,” the Danish daily in September last year in what they call a show of support for press freedom across the continent. But protests by Muslim organizations and politicians are intensifying across the Middle East. And other groups are also condemned this action, including the Russian Orthodox Church.
Reuters reports outrage spread in the Middle East on Thursday [February 2] after more European newspapers published cartoons that Muslims say insult Islam and the Prophet Mohammad. The Gulf state of Qatar, the Carrefour supermarket said it had stopped selling products from Denmark. Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran joined the criticism of the cartoons, which have provoked widespread protests and boycotts against Denmark. Jordan”s King Abdullah condemned the cartoons as an unnecessary abuse of freedom of expression in a speech in Washington to members of the U.S. Congress, diplomats and clergy.
