Philip Hammond: "Daesh has a perverted understanding of one of the great religions of the world"

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated at the 52nd Security Conference in Munich that Daesh and the migration crisis require joint efforts from Europe, the head of the European bureau of Vestnik Kavkaza Orhan Sattorov reports. "We have to protect ourselves from uncontrolled migration and the threat of terrorism. At the same time, I don't believe that the creation of a Maginot Line and fencing off from the Middle East will bring success,’’ he said.

Hammond positively assessed Russia's contribution to the fight against Daesh in Syria. "I have no doubts that the mutual efforts of the international coalition, including the participation of Russia, will lead to success in this fight," the Minister said.

Meanwhile, Russian mass media, referring to the Russian ambassador to London Alexander Yakovenko, reported that the UK has refused to cooperate with Russia in the definition of objectives to attack terrorist groups in Syria. According to Yakovenko, the proposal was made by Moscow, as the United Kingdom officially declared war against Daesh. According to the diplomat, he was negotiating on this subject with Philip Hammond two months ago, but London refused. Yakovenko expressed hope that the UK authorities would change their decision, noting that many of Russia's problems had already been solved by the country itself. This, in particular, is a matter of improving relations with the Free Syrian Army and other opposition forces of the country, the ambassador reminded.

In Munich Hammond described Daesh as "a modern fashionable manifestation of violent extremism." "We can’t easily defeat its ideology. Facing the threat of extremism, we have drawn a lot of attention to the symptoms rather than the disease itself. The foundation of this ideology is an absence of hope among people who don’t see any future for themselves. Daeshev is a perverse understanding of one of the great religions of the world, spreading on social networks,’’ he said.

"We have created a unit of extremism analysis. We systematically examine abuses of Sharia law in Muslim communities in the UK. We have to explain to Muslims the positive aspects of a democratic state, and that Islam is compatible with progress, as in Turkey and Indonesia. However, the Muslim world is responsible for the fight against the Daesh ideology. The West faces the problem of security, and the Islamic world faces the problem of survival, because moderate and extreme Islam are incompatible. The Islamic countries should lead this fight themselves," the UK Foreign Secretary urged.