Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday that Hezbollah, or "Party of God" in Arabic, should change its name to "Party of Satan," blaming the terrorist organization for killing thousands of civilians in Syria."Those who stand by the Assad regime and kill their own Muslim brothers and indiscriminately kill women and children in the battlefield should not appeal to Islam and the Quran to legitimize their actions," Bozdag said, according to Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman.
Bozdag made the remarks on Sunday at an international symposium in Ankara, titled "Problems of the Islamic World and Solutions," Today's Zaman reports. The deputy prime minister also said Hezbollah, which has bolstered support behind Assad's regime, should change its name to Hezb al-Shaitan -- the Party of Satan.
"The pharaoh gave orders for the killing of innocent children and their mothers to maintain power. What is the difference between what the Pharaoh did and Assad is doing?" he asked.
The senior official also blamed terrorist organizations, specifically Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, for violent activities that insult Islam.
"What the al-Qaeda is doing is causing huge damage to the Muslim world. Muslims have nothing to share or do with people whose hands are full of blood," he added, according to Today's Zaman.
