Islamophobia is poisonous and must be defeated, says Hürriyet chairwoman

Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, Hürriyet Chairwoman and Vice President of Aydın Doğan Foundation, called the world against Islamophobia as saying, "If we want peace, we have to find ways of living together" at a panel titled "Islamophobia: Overcoming Myths and Engaging in a Better Conversation" organized by Turkey's Doğan Group, in cooperation with the U.S.-based Atlantic Council think tank and the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington.

Doğan Sabancı delivered the opening speech of the panel, which was moderated by the president and CEO of the Atlantic Council, Frederick Kempe. The panel also featured author and comparative religion commentator Karen Armstrong; former Turkish State Minister Mehmet Aydın; the dean of the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, Vali Nasr and renowned human rights activist Zainab Salbi.

Vuslat Doğan Sabancı started her opening remarks by reminding US President Barack Obama's speech during his most recent address at the United Nations meeting, as saying, "We are too packed together and the world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall and prevent [extremism] from affecting our own societies - without answering the question how we can live together" and added:

"A very accurate observation indeed... The world is too packed together: A threat anywhere in the world is not limited to that particular place, and affects the entire world. And the outcomes of how that threat is perceived, defined, and is struggled with are global indeed. And because the threat is global, peace can only be ensured at a global level. People's destinies have become dependent on each other, as it has never been before. If we cannot prevent ourselves or if even the most developed arms technologies...