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Erdoğan: Muslim leaders’ response to Gaza ‘pitiful’
While departing from İstanbul for a four-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia late on Sunday, Erdoğan was asked by a journalist to assess the Muslim world’s stance concerning Israel’s devastating offensive on Gaza last winter and its ongoing blockade of the impoverished enclave.
In response, Erdoğan clearly decried Muslim leaders’ inadequate response to Palestinian suffering in the Gaza Strip as “pitiful.”
“Let’s not mean the people when saying the Muslim world. If we deal with the issue in regards to the administrations, those administrations have failed to show the reactions that the world’s Muslims expected from them. This has been a pitiful aspect of the matter,” Erdoğan said, noting that he would discuss the issue during his visit to Jeddah where he will meet Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the secretary-general of the OIC, a group of 57 Muslim-majority nations.
As of Monday, Erdoğan was in Abu Dhabi where he delivered a keynote speech at the opening session of the 3rd World Future Energy Summit (WFES). Later in the day, he was expected to hold talks with UAE Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Zayed Al Nahyan.
Today, Erdoğan will proceed to Riyadh to hold talks with Saudi King Abdullah and other senior officials before wrapping up his visit with talks in Jeddah on Wednesday.
Last January, Erdoğan walked out of a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, after a heated exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres, telling him, “When it comes to killing, you know very well how to kill.” His remarks were referring to Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter, in which Erdoğan accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity by killing more than 1,300 Palestinians.
The Davos walkout was a decisive moment for the Arab media and public opinion, which led to them giving Turkey as well as their own countries and leaderships another look.
Earlier this month, Riyadh-based King Faisal Foundation (KFF) announced that Erdoğan, “whose achievements have set an example of judicious leadership in the Islamic world,” won the 2010 King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) for service to Islam.
According to the foundation, Erdoğan has pioneered a major campaign that placed Turkey among the world’s leading countries, economically and industrially. “His unyielding position on various Islamic and global issues, particularly the rights of the Palestinian people, has gained him the respect and admiration of the entire Islamic world and the international community at large,” the foundation said.
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