The West is applauding that Muslim

He is a Muslim of Moroccan origin. He was 15 years old when his family migrated to Holland. He has a bachelor?s degree in engineering but he was first a journalist before going into politics. He has double-citizenship; Moroccan and Dutch. Ahmed Aboutaleb is 53 years old; he has been the mayor of Rotterdam for six years.

After the Paris attacks, the Muslim mayor said on television: ?It is not possible to understand your attack on freedoms. If freedom is too much for you, then pack your suitcase immediately and leave.?

Aboutaleb said he was deeply affected by the attack: ?I am speaking as a very angry Muslim, not as the mayor of Rotterdam. It is not possible to explain the terror that presents Islam differently. If you are not happy here, leave immediately.?

Several countries are applauding him, with the praise that he has been ?the Muslim administrator who has taken the clearest stance against terror.?

There are two lessons to be drawn: First, according to the West, Ankara?s attitude toward terror is inadequate. Nobody is talking about Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, who is trying to send a domestic message.

The mayors of Holland are appointed by the government. The government has appointed a Muslim mayor to its second largest city. In Turkey, today, it is not even imaginable for a non-Muslim to be nominated and elected as the mayor of a large city.

The columnist?s right to speak

Columnists for daily Cumhuriyet, which published a selection from the latest issue of the Charlie Hebdo magazine, Hikmet Çetinkaya and Ceyda Karan, are being given death threats: ?Your voyage to hell has started, you will be punished, I will clean your brain.?

I have spoken to my old friend Hikmet, who said...