Turkish seinior official criticizes Trump's travel ban

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesperson Numan Kurtulmus on Tuesday criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban on the nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries, calling on Washington to correct the "discriminative decision."

"This decision is unacceptable," Kurtulmus said in an interview with local daily Haberturk, urging the U.S. to "review" the executive order.

He noted that rising Islamophobia, xenophobia and anti-immigrant feelings have a great weight on this decision.

"It is wrong to categorically label citizens of specific countries as 'bad,' the deputy prime minister said, "there could be good and evil from all countries."

Kurtulmus stressed that the only way for democratic countries and the international community to fight terrorism was to establish a well-functioning network and strengthen the anti-terror coalition.

He warned the West to be aware of the fact that Islamophobia and terrorist organizations such as Islamic State both serve the same purpose and make the lives of 1.7 billion Muslims miserable.

Under the executive order Trump signed Friday, nationals from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya will be banned to the U.S. for 90 days and refugees from all over the world will be suspended U.S. entry for 120 days.

The decision sparked nation-wide protests in the U.S. and has been rejected by traditional allies as well as the UN and human rights organizations. Endit