Kill poverty, ignorance to fight terror: Turkey President

New Delhi: It is not mere power which can kill terrorism as one needs to fight off poverty and inequality to eradicate it, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday at the Jamia Millia Islamia where he was conferred an honorary doctorate.

“Terrorism cannot be stopped by power alone. It can only be stopped by fighting poverty, inequality and ignorance,” Erdogan said on the second day of his second visit to India. He had earlier come to India as Prime Minister in 2008.

Heading a nation that is beleaguered with terror attacks, Erdogan said he has been fighting Islamic State committedly and that the group has brought bad name to the religion of Islam.

“We are fighting Daesh (Islamic State) with commitment. It is an infamy to Islam, it is a blasphemy to Islam. Our battle with it will continue,” he said.

A degree of Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt.) was conferred upon Erdogan by Jamia Chancellor M.A. Zaidi.

Erdogan expressed his happiness at receiving a degree “from such an august institution”.

He held delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day when both sides signed three agreements in the fields of ICT, training and culture.

—IANS