I agree with this  for the reason that persecution is quite a laden and subjective word If Christians in Indonesia are banned from using the word Allah for God and punished if they do does this mean they are persecuted If the choice of drinking alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia does this mean atheists are persecuted Maybe if you asserted that minarets are an integral part of Islam but its more a tradition than anything else You cannot find a single reference to it in the Quran Although a wording like is seen by XYZ as a sign of intolerance reference quote calling it intolerant would surely be OK