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Islamophobia has recently been on the agenda of international public opinion, especially due to the Qur'an burnings in Northern European countries. These acts have brought about debates on the definition of islamophobia. The view that islamophobia is actually a new type of racism or cultural racism has gained weight. From this point of view, in this study, we will examine the current debates on islamophobia, which has now turned into anti-Islamism and even hatred against Islam, and discuss in what context Islamophobia in Europe is a new form of racism. In this context, we will discuss the role of Islamophobia in discrimination against Muslims, the approach of European governments and the far right, the negative discourse against Islam itself in addition to the reaction against Muslims, the comparison of Islamophobia and antisemitism in the context of punishing islamophobic acts, positive examples and steps that can be taken in the fight against Islamophobia. In our study, we will first address the situation on the ground, focusing on attacks on Islamic symbols and discrimination against Muslims. Then, we will discuss Islamophobia at the level of policy and discourse, analysing the policies of governments in Europe and the discourse of the far right. In the conclusion, we will make a general assessment and share our findings on the steps that can be taken for a solution. While conducting this study, we will refer to previous researches and books written on this subject, official websites of international organizations, political parties in Europe that are described as far-right, and press reports, as the main sources. Although the history of anti-Islamism can be traced back to the emergence of Islam, islamophobia is a relatively new concept. In the most general sense, islamophobia is used in the sense of dislike, fear of or hate the religion of Islam. It is a hate speech that includes discrimination and marginalization against Muslims. Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism tendencies should not be considered independent of each other. Conceptually, islamophobia has a close semantic content and a similar logic with xenophobia. Although the first use of the concept of Islamophobia can be traced back to the 1920s, the first work in which it was discussed and described as fear of Islam was the report entitled Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All prepared by the Runnymede Trust in 1997. The report defines Islamophobia as an unfounded hostility towards Muslims and a consequent fear and hostility towards all or most Muslims. Examples of Islamophobia can be found in the Christian world's view of Islam in the Middle Ages and in the references to Muslims in the books of Western intellectuals. The works of many Western enlightenment philosophers contain negative views about Turks and Islam. In these books, Turks are identified with the Islamic religion and the term Turk is often used instead of the term Muslim. However, there are also negative direct references to Islam and Muslims. Due to the migration movements to European countries after the Second World War within the framework of labor migration and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, discriminatory and marginalizing ideas such as racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia have gained serious ground. Likewise, irregular migration, accelerated after the Syrian War and the Arab Spring, as well as the association of Muslims with terrorism, have also had negative effects in this process. Following the Second World War, a labour shortage emerged in Western European countries. As a result, there was labour migration from Turkey, Southern Europe and North Africa to countries such as France, Germany and Belgium. Due to the oil embargo imposed by OPEC in the 1970s, unemployment concerns increased in European countries and accordingly, anti-immigration policies came to the fore. In addition, the process of legalisation of migrants was initiated in order to prevent unregistered employment and illegal migration, which created a black money cycle in Europe. Since the 1990s, migrant smuggling has become an international profit centre. While economic concerns were at the forefront in terms of Islamophobia before 11 September, the religious identity of Muslims started to attract attention after these terrorist attacks. The waves of migration to European countries, the security concerns that increased with the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the association of Islam with terrorism have increased the existing prejudices against Muslims in Europe. Especially following the Arab Spring of 2010, a serious wave of migration to the EU and the increase in asylum requests resulted in the EU's migration policies becoming restrictive. European countries have pursued policies to keep migration under control in order to prevent irregular migration waves. On the other hand, due to the September 11 attacks and similar terrorist acts, migration policies in Europe have started to be formulated from a security perspective. This situation paved the way for the strengthening of the far right in Europe. Unlike the classical fascist parties seen before the Second World War, a new generation of far-right parties emerged in Europe. Whereas classical fascist parties were opposed to parliamentary democracy, liberalism and socialism, the new far-right parties do not aim to overthrow democracy. Although these parties, also called the post-industrial far-right, trying to distance themselves from the parties of the pre-1945 fascist periods due to the painful memories of World War II. However, they have adopted an alienating discourse that directly targets Muslims and the religion of Islam. In the discourse of far-right parties, Islam is portrayed as a primitive, dogmatic and aggressive ideology. It is noteworthy that Islam is not only referred to as a religion but also as a totalitarian and violent ideology. In France, the use of the word «Islamism» (Islamisme) by the far right and even by the mainstream media to refer to Islam as extremism has attracted significant reactions. In this context, while the meanings of the words Christianism and Judaism are used to describe the teachings of these religions and do not have a negative connotation, it is pointed out that Islam is the only religion whose name, when prefixed with the suffix « -ism », does not refer to a teaching but to a political ideology. In addition, the discourse gap between the political parties in the centre and the far right has narrowed, which has led to xenophobic and islamophobic rhetoric being seen as normal. Conspiracy theories about the influence of immigrant culture on Western Christian culture are increasingly being embraced by politicians in the centre. Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations thesis and Francis Fukuyama's End of History thesis have also provided the intellectual basis for the conflict between the Western world and Muslim societies. Thus, a favourable environment has been created for anti-immigrant discourse, and hence islamophobic sentiment, to flourish. The Qur'an burnings are in fact the visible face of islamophobia in the media. Islamophobia is manifested in many different ways such as attacks on mosques, discrimination against Muslims, marginalizing discourses of the far right and legislative efforts to control the Muslim community. The burning of Qurans in Northern European countries such as Denmark and Sweden, insulting and threatening messages targeting mosques in Germany, rhetoric openly targeting Islam by far-right parties in France and the Netherlands, and regulations aimed at controlling places of worship and/or Muslim associations stand out. In any case, in all of these countries, it is known that Muslims are discriminated against in daily life in one way or another on the basis of their origin or religious identity. Discrimination is, in fact, more serious than physical attacks on the Qur'an or mosques in terms of the number of victims and the impact on their lives. People of foreign origin may face discrimination in the social sphere, such as in employment, education and housing. Muslims may also be discriminated against by official institutions. This process, which started with the tightening of surveillance against Muslims in the US especially after 9/11, has also been reflected in Europe. In this context, the behavior of security forces towards migrants can be subject to criticism, and cases such as treating migrants according to their ethnic profile (ethnic profiling) can be seen. Islamophobia is not only about attacks and discriminatory practices against Muslims. Examples ranging from Qur'an burnings to the rhetoric of far-right parties show that not only individuals but also the religion of Islam are directly targeted. However, it is observed that some circles in the West and international organizations do not want to use the term islamophobia, preferring instead terms such as « violence against Muslims » and « intolerance against Muslims ». In Europe, the reaction against immigrants stems not only from economic reasons but also from their identity. Immigrants are discriminated against because they belong to a foreign ethnic group, speak a foreign language or have a different skin colour, but they are also discriminated against because they are Muslim. Generally, ethnic and religious identity elements are seen together and intertwined as the causes of discrimination. At this point, there is a general anti-immigrant sentiment regardless of the ethnic and religious identity of migrants. It is seen that islamophobia has emerged as a new type of racism. This new generation of racism is also defined as cultural racism. This is because in both racism and islamophobia, the victims are marginalized, excluded, discriminated against and even attacked on the basis of their identity. In the cultural racism, cultural and ethno-religious characteristics are the main determinants rather than genetic and biological ones. The cultural-religious belonging, the religious norms-values and practices adopted as a result are taken as a basis, rather than the genetic-ethnic characteristics of the person or group. In this context, discriminatory attitudes towards ethnic-religious-cultural minorities marginalized groups may emerge. This new racism, which is also characterized as « modern racism », manifests itself in fear and hatred, xenophobia and islamophobia against immigrant groups and foreigners living as minorities in dominant societies, especially Muslims. Islamophobia is also compared to antisemitism, and it is demanded that islamophobic attacks and their perpetrators be treated in the same way as antisemitism. At this point, one of the main goals of combating islamophobia is to define attacks on Islamic symbols as hate crimes and to take steps to subject these attacks to criminal sanctions in international law and national legislation. It is important that the marginalizing character of islamophobia is perceived by the constituents of public opinion, and that it is then contained and neutralized in the marginal sphere. The main goal in the fight against islamophobia should be to raise global awareness that islamophobia is a human rights problem which threatens also democratic values aw well as the culture of coexistence, and to strengthen international cooperation in this direction. There are positive, if not sufficient, examples in the fight against islamophobia. In 2019, the UN declared 15 March as the «International Day to Combat Islamophobia» in commemoration of the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which killed 51 people. In July 2023, resolutions were adopted at the UN defining attacks on Islamic symbols as «religious hatred» and «violations of international law». The OSCE/ODIHR has published guidelines on anti-Muslim hate crimes, including 10 principles. Various international organizations have adopted numerous resolutions condemning islamophobia. Likewise, various organizations and countries appointed special representatives, established working groups and published reports to combat islamophobia. These positive steps are not enough to change the situation on the ground at this stage. For concrete and effective steps to be taken, there needs to be a strong political will on the part of state administrations.