I have written in the past pointing out Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hypocrisy on proclaiming himself as the ‘defender’ of Palestinians, while maintaining a military, diplomatic and economic alliance with Israel.
Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem who is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute, published a lengthy article on August 25, 2020 on Gatestone Institute’s website, titled: “Arabs and Muslims to Turkey's Erdogan: ‘Why Don't You Protest Against Yourself?’”
Erdogan inherited from Ottoman Sultans the skill of walking a diplomatic tightrope. For centuries, the Ottoman Empire perfected the political art of seeming to be on both sides of conflicting powers. The Sultans sided with France and England against Germany and with Germany against France and England.
The same policy is being pursued now by Erdogan, appearing to be on the Palestinian side, while maintaining multi-faceted relations with Israel. Similarly, Turkey is a NATO member, while purchasing advanced missiles from Russia which violates NATO policies. Amazingly, Erdogan is simultaneously the good friend of both Trump and Putin!
This contradictory and dishonest Turkish behavior finally was exposed in the Arab and Islamic world on the occasion of Israel and United Arab Emirates (UAE) normalizing their relations. Erdogan threatened UAE on August 14, 2020, to cut off diplomatic relations and recall Turkey’s Ambassador from the UAE, while Turkey itself maintains normal relations with Israel, where it has an Embassy, and Israel has an Embassy in Ankara!
Many Arabs are now reminding Erdogan that “Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize the State of Israel. They also remind him of his official visit to Israel in 2005 and the decades of military, strategic and diplomatic cooperation between Turkey and Israel,” Abu Toameh wrote.
Here are several statements that Abu Toameh quoted from Arab and Muslim sources exposing Erdogan’s hypocritical position.
Erdogan is “the official sponsor of terrorist groups in the region. He uses these groups to destabilize the Arab countries, including Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Egypt.... It seems that Erdogan is suffering from schizophrenia that surprises and confuses even his supporters,” wrote Egyptian journalist Adel al-Sanhoury, in youm7.com, on August 21, 2020.
Jordanian writer Noura al-Moteari asked: “Does Erdogan have a mental illness and a dual personality, or does he know for sure that his followers from the oppressed Turkish people and the Muslim Brotherhood follow him with blind loyalty and do not see beyond the end of their noses? How does Erdogan threaten to withdraw his ambassador from Abu Dhabi because of the historic peace agreement with Israel, while the Israeli embassy in Turkey is active?”
Saudi political activist Monther al-Sheikh Mubarak wrote: “I am sure Erdogan needs a psychiatrist. It has been reported that Turkey will serve Israel by transporting Israelis to the UAE at a time when Erdogan is objecting to normalization [with Israel]. There is no cure for stupidity.”
Saudi political activist Abdullah al-Bander said in a video he posted on social media that Erdogan is known for his words more than his actions. “What's funny is that Erdogan was also the first Muslim leader to visit the grave of [Zionism founder Theodor] Herzl in Israel and meet with [then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon. Erdogan is trading in the Palestinian cause. Turkey has had relations with Israel for more than 70 years, but it has done nothing good for the Pa...
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