- Join the France 24 community here
- Log in
Latest update: 13/09/2011
- diplomacy - Egypt - Palestinian Territories - Popular revolt - Tayyip Erdogan - Turkey
Palestinian state not option but obligation, says Erdogan
Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan (pictured) spoke in favour of Palestinian statehood and sharply criticised Israel in an address to Arab states meeting in Cairo, while on a North African tour aimed at showing support for the Arab spring uprisings.
REUTERS - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday it was time to "raise the Palestinian flag at the United Nations" in a rallying call to Arab states before a Palestinian U.N. membership bid opposed by Washington.
Speaking to Arab foreign ministers, he said Israel had undermined its legitimacy by irresponsible behaviour. He made no specific accusations but has in the past criticised Israel for building settlements on occupied land envisaged as part of a Palestinian state.
He has also protested over Israel's offensive against Gaza in 2008, which largely spelt the end of a close alliance between Turkey and Israel, and has condemned its attack on a Turkish ship heading for Gaza that killed nine Turks last year.
Erdogan's recent criticism of Israel has drawn strong support in the Arab world, buttressing his campaign to promote Ankara's blend of Islam and democracy as a model for movements that have toppled several Arab autocrats, including Egyptian former president Hosni Mubarak.
"While Israel is trying to secure its legitimacy in our region on one hand, it is taking irresponsible steps which unsettle its legitimacy on the other," Erdogan said.
With the souring of relations between Turkey and Israel, military cooperation has been frozen and diplomatic ties downgraded.
"Erdogan, Erdogan!"
Erdogan's tour will include Tunisia and Libya, which have all witnessed the fall of entrenched leaders to grassroots revolts this year, challenging the old order across the region.
"Erdogan, Erdogan!" cheered a group of demonstrators as the Turkish prime minister left the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo where he had been speaking. They were calling for change in Syria, whose military is trying to crush an uprising.
Displaying a populist touch, Erdogan stopped and shook the demonstrators' hands.
He told an Arab League ministers meeting that international recognition of a Palestinian state was "not an option but an obligation".
"It's time to raise the Palestinian flag at the United Nations. Let's raise the Palestinian flag and let that flag be the symbol of peace and justice in the Middle East. Let's contribute to securing well deserved peace and stability in the Middle East," he said.
Palestinians will bid for full membership of the United Nations later this month, a move opposed by the United States, which has a veto. Arab states endorsed it at the Cairo meeting.
Erdogan said Turkey offered its help to Arab nations facing turmoil but, in an apparent reference to Syria, he said some had turned down the offer.
"However, we continue to insist they meet their people's demands."
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby introduced the Turkish prime minister saying: "All the Arab peoples appreciate what you are doing. We consider that there is a strong friendly state who is always standing on the side of justice."
Outside the League, Syrian protester Samer Zaher, 30, said: "Erdogan has turned into an Arab hero ... We have not found a leader as powerful as him addressing (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) and asking him to quit."
Erdogan later addressed the Syrian issue directly, saying in a public speech before several thousand Cairenes that he like most Syrians had lost faith in Assad.
"As civilian deaths increase in Syria we see that reforms have not materialised and they did not speak honestly. It is not possible to believe this. And the Syrian people do not believe in Assad, nor do I. We also do not believe him," he said in the grounds of the Cairo opera house.
Winning over Arabs
Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador last week in a row over an Israeli raid last year that killed nine Turks on a flotilla bound for Gaza, the Palestinian enclave controlled by the Islamist group Hamas and under blockade by Israel.
While winning over ordinary Arabs, particularly because of non-Arab Turkey's tough line towards Israel, Erdogan's growing popularity and clout could be a headache for more cautious Arab leaders who could see their own influence overshadowed.
"Turkey wants to play a regional role, especially when Egypt is busy with the revolution. Turkey thinks it's best placed to play this leadership role," said Adel Soliman, head of Cairo's International Centre for Future and Strategic Studies.
Egypt has traditionally seen itself as the leading diplomatic player in the Arab region. But its position has been eroded by wealthy Gulf countries, such as Qatar, and lately overshadowed by Turkey, with its fast-expanding economy.
Erdogan met Egypt's Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council that took over after Hosni Mubarak was ousted by mass street demonstrations in February.
Egypt has also been embroiled in a dispute with Israel after Israel shot dead five Egyptian border guards in repelling cross-border raiders it said were Palestinian militants.
But Egypt's generals have faced popular criticism for not taking a firmer line. Cairo said it would expel Israel's ambassador but did not follow through with threat.
Protesters attacked Israel's embassy in Cairo last week, prompting the ambassador to fly home and an embarrassed Egyptian government to affirm to Washington, its major aid donor, that it remained committed to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
Egypt has received billions of dollars in U.S. military and other aid since making peace with the Jewish state, so the military council faces a difficult balancing act responding to public calls for an assertive policy towards Israel.
Erdogan was cheered by a crowd when he arrived in Cairo and met by Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. Many appeared to be from Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, who approve of Erdogan's bringing Islamists into mainstream Turkish politics.
"Erdogan, Erdogan -- a big welcome from the Brothers!" one banner said. "Hero Erdogan" was written on a photo of the prime minister.
Related Content
Breaking news from AFRICA, Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa
‘Darth Vader’ demands free land from Ukrainian government
Browse all editions
FRANCE 24 PARTNERS
Comments (8)
Palestine
Peace is an action you cannot receive on a platter by your dinner host. Peace is an action that can only be realised when you work for it by any means necessary through armed conflict. Anything that is given to you through charity can be taken away at any time.
Agree with Turkey
I'm glad to see someone stepping up to these israeli bullies to be honest. It's a classic tale of the bullied becoming the bullies.
Why divide Israel again?
Let's go back a little in history and History...
“He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night..`Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’ declares the Lord, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.” (Old Testament Book of Jeremiah 31:35)
In 70 A.D., the land called Israel was renamed Palestina or Palestine by conquering Roman armies led by Titus. Palestine was then occupied mainly by Jews, secondly by Arabs, Romans, Greeks and other races. After the Romans, Palestine was ruledby various occupiers, including the Greeks, Ottoman Turks, and finally by Great Britain up to 1947.
League of Nations designates Palestine as a Jewish Homeland in 1922
In 1922, by unanimous vote of 51 countries belonging to the League of Nations, Palestine was legally established as a national home for the Jewish people. Before and during the second World War, European Jews fleeing Hitler's Holocaust fled to Israel to join long-time Jewish residents of Palestine. This caused violent riots among Arabs living in the land.
United Nations Partitions Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State in 1947
In 1947, by a two-thirds majority vote involving 56 countries, the United Nations passed Resolution 181, dividing the land of Palestine into two nations. The smaller land dominated by the Negev Desert was given to Jewish residents of Palestine and called Israel. The larger area well-watered by the Jordan River and Lake Galilee was given to Arab residents of Palestine and called the Transjordan, now known as the Jordan. After almost 2,000 years, Israel was reborn, as prophesied in the Bible. The Philippines was the only Asian nation to vote for the rebirth of Israel.
The World's only Jewish State Reborn: Israel Occupies 1/8 of 1% of the Middle East
After the partition, all Jews living in the area of Jordan were forced to relocate to Israel. But thousands of Arabs living in Israel elected to remain in the Jewish state. Israel's democratic government allowed them to reside as citizens.
Arabs Reject U.N. Two-State Resolution, Attack Israel in 1948 War
The Arab nations angrily rejected the U.N. partition plan. In 1948, one day after the Jewish state was born, seven Arab nations joined forces to attack and destroy Israel. Arabs who lived in the land were warned to flee to the Jordan until Israel was eliminated. Over 700,000 Arabs camped across the border and became the first "Palestinian Refugees." Though far outnumbered and out-armed, Israel won that war by what the world called a "miracle." Armistice lines or informal boundaries were drawn to effect a ceasefire. The West Bank, Gaza strip and Golan Heights remained under Arab occupation.
Arab Nations Attack Israel Again in 1967: Israel Recaptures Bible Heartlands in East Jerusalem and West Bank.
In 1967, four Arab armies again moved to attack Israel with intent of wiping out the Jewish State. Again, the Arabs living in the conflict zones were warned to flee to the Jordan. Over 280,000 Arabs relocated across the border, swelling the ranks of "Palestinian Refugees" already there. Again, Israel won the war and reclaimed the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. The Golan is Israel's main water source. The West Bank and East Jerusalem contain the Bible heartlands, including the Western Wall, Holy Temple, Mount of Olives, Bethlehem, Jericho and the Burial Places of the Jewish Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The West Bank is Biblical Judea and Samaria where, according to the Genesis account, the God of Israel gave the territory to Abraham, his grandson Jacob and their descendants as an eternal inheritance.
In 2005, the Gaza Strip was given to the Palestinians for the sake of peace. But the terrorist group called Hamas controlled the land and fired 12,000 rockets into Israel over the next 6 years. For six years, Israel could not fire back because the Hamas placed their rocket launchers in Mosques, hospitals, heavily-populated areas. They used their own people as "human shields". When Hamas rockets began to target Israel's capital of Tel Aviv, Israel fired back and was condemned for "war crimes" in the U.N.'s Goldstone Report.
Palestinian Authority asks U.N. to Unilaterally Declare Palestinian State on Israel's 1967 Border Lands: Formula for Israel's Destruction?
The Palestinian Authority has asked the United Nations to unilaterally declare a Palestinian State on Israel's pre-1967 border lands during its General Assembly this September 20. The capital of the Islamic Palestinian State will stand in East Jerusalem, on the Holy Temple site, Via Dolorosa and other areas sacred to Christianity and Judaism. The heart of Judaeo-Christian faith, history and pilgrimage, where the Christian and Jewish Messiah promises to return will fall under Muslim control.
This will also reduce Israel to a narrow indefensible strip of land vulnerable to terrorist attacks from several fronts. The West Bank could become another Gaza, a terrorist stronghold. Every Israeli city would be within firing range of missiles and bomb-carrying planes within four minutes. The waters flowing into the Jordan and Lake Galilee from the melting mountain snows of the Golan Heights could be stopped or poisoned.
Plenty of Arab Land for Palestinian Refugees: Why Divide the Holy Land?
The Palestinian refugees can be accommodated in the Jordan or any one of 22 Arab nations. Why create a second state for Palestinian Arabs at the expense of the world's only Jewish state? The Arab countries refuse to absorb the refugees to pressure Israel to give up its heartland to the Palestinians. Is this really a strategy to remove Israel from the Middle East?
Only Israel should have any rights. Right?
Its hard to bomb a state and invade it and kill its citizens at will and get away with it that is why Israel wants to try and stop it at any cost. Better to keep things stateless and make Palestinians look like wondering homeless people sand not allowed return to the land they lived on for over 2,000 years.
a sad state
Why is Israel only for jews to live in and why do jews only marry jews is it right to have a self breeding race who think they are above the rest of mankind and wonder why they dont fit in.
Statehood?
Why doesn't Mr.Erdogan grant a portion of Turkey to the Kurds?
mind your own business!
Palestinian issue has not much to do with the Turks. What Turks should deal with is the Kurdish issue and the recognition of Armenian Genocide!
Well, sure thing...
"It's time to raise the Palestinian flag at the United Nations. Let's raise the Palestinian flag and let that flag be the symbol of peace and justice in the Middle East. Let's contribute to securing well deserved peace and stability in the Middle East," well, I agree.
But how, Dear Mr. Erdogan, about YOU agree, that "It's time to raise the Kurdish flag at the United Nations. Let's raise the Kurdish flag and let that flag be the symbol of peace and justice in the Middle East. Let's contribute to securing well deserved peace and stability in the Middle East"?
I mean, we aren't racist now, Erdo, are we?
Post new comment