By Andrew W. Griffin

Red Dirt Report, editor

Posted: September 20, 2012

reddirtreporter@gmail.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – At the midday luncheon of the Institute of Interfaith Dialog on Wednesday, Orhan Osman, the executive director of the Raindrop Turkish House introduced the speaker, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater.

And before Prater was introduced (we covered Prater’s luncheon talk here) Osman took time to address the deadly attacks against the U.S. mission and consulate on Sept. 11, 2012 by Libyans angry about the negative portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad in an obscure American film.

Osman, who is Turkish and Muslim and promotes interfaith dialogue, told the audience that when he read the newspaper accounts of the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya and the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, and that a Coptic Christian had provoked a situation via the Innocence of Muslims video trailer, he was upset and saddened by this unfortunate development.

“I was very frustrated” by the situation, Osman told those gathered in the room.

“We call them terrorists, not Muslims,” Osman said. “These people don’t have any faith, they have their own agenda.”

“They cannot justify what they did to our ambassador,” Osman said in a serious tone.

But, Osman added, there are a lot of “ignorant, uneducated people in poverty who are ready to be provoked” and that the person behind the video was seeking to “created a clash in the Middle East between Muslims and Coptic Christians” as has been seen recently in Egypt.

“I am hoping that people around the world see this (attack) as nothing related to Islam,” Osman said, adding, “I condemn all terrorism, no matter who is responsible.”

To learn more about Raindrop Turkish House, go to www.raindropturkishhouse.org and to learn more about the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, go to www.interfaithdialog.org/oklahoma/oklahoma-city

Copyright 2012 Red Dirt Report