{"id":78842,"date":"2020-06-17T17:05:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T15:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=78842"},"modified":"2020-06-16T06:40:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T04:40:20","slug":"16-05-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=78842","title":{"rendered":"What Erdogan Says vs. What Erdogan Does"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/images\/gatestone-logo-1000.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"45%\"><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><span><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/16086\/palestinians-turkey-erdogan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Palestinians in Turkey: What Erdogan Says vs. What Erdogan Does<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Khaled Abu Toameh<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\">\n<ul>\n<li>While Erdogan is paying lip service to the Palestinian cause and praising Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU, Canada and Australia, Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria are complaining of discrimination and mistreatment by the Turkish authorities.<\/li>\n<li>According to Palestinian sources, there are about 10,000 Palestinian refugees in Turkey who are suffering from discrimination and living in dire conditions.<\/li>\n<li>The suffering of the Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria begins the moment they arrive at the border with Turkey, Thuri Tamim, a Palestinian refugee, told the Palestinian Refugees Portal, an independent website covering news related to Palestinian refugees.<\/li>\n<li>If Erdogan really wants to help the Palestinians, he can start by ordering his government to stop arresting and harassing Palestinian refugees. If he really wants to help the Palestinians, he can stop playing host and cash cow to Hamas, a terrorist group that has brought nothing but misery to Palestinians and Israelis alike.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/pics\/546.jpg\" width=\"100%\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and assured him of Turkey&#8217;s &#8220;solidarity&#8221; with the Palestinian cause, pledging to support the Palestinians in &#8220;all fields.&#8221; But instead of welcoming the Palestinians fleeing from the civil war in Syria, Erdogan is humiliating them and trying to throw them into prison. Pictured: Erdogan (right) hosts Abbas in his palace in Ankara on January 12, 2015. (Photo by Adem Altan\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan excels at making statements in support of the Palestinians. His actions, however, suggest quite a different attitude about the plight of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria in the past two years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">For a start, Erdogan does not even recognize these refugees as Palestinian &#8212; although they carry ID cards issued by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as well as other documents defining them as Palestinian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Erdogan considers these refugees Syrian, not Palestinian, because they arrived from Syria and their temporary travel documents were issued by either the Syrian government or UNRWA.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">All the same, recently Erdogan chatted on the phone with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ansamed.info\/ansamed\/en\/news\/sections\/politics\/2020\/05\/21\/israel-erdogan-expresses-support-to-mahmoud-abbas_e8f196f3-daf0-4cbb-972b-40c49db769d1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">assured<\/a>&nbsp;him of Turkey&#8217;s &#8220;solidarity&#8221; with the Palestinian cause. Erdogan reportedly told Abbas that Turkey will&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ansamed.info\/ansamed\/en\/news\/sections\/politics\/2020\/05\/21\/israel-erdogan-expresses-support-to-mahmoud-abbas_e8f196f3-daf0-4cbb-972b-40c49db769d1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">continue<\/a>&nbsp;to support the Palestinians in &#8220;all fields.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Erdogan has long boasted of his support for Hamas and said he does not regard it as a terrorist organization. &#8220;Hamas,&#8221; Erdogan&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hurriyetdailynews.com\/hamas-is-not-a-terrorist-group-president-erdogan-131933\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>&nbsp;during an official visit to London in May 2018, &#8220;is one of the resistance movements working to liberate the occupied territories of the Palestinians.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In a May 24&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/trpresidency\/status\/1264615898326814720?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video<\/a>&nbsp;message on the occasion of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, Erdogan repeated Turkey&#8217;s support for the Palestinians. &#8220;We will not allow the Palestinian lands to be offered to anyone else,&#8221; he said, referring to Israel&#8217;s intention to apply sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. &#8220;Last week we witnessed that a new occupation and annexation project, which disregards Palestine&#8217;s sovereignty and international law, was put into action by Israel.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In September 2019, Erdogan made yet another passionate pro-Palestinian&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xiSdd2NpY2g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">speech<\/a>&nbsp;at the UN General Assembly. &#8220;Turkey will continue to stand by the oppressed people of Palestine as it has always done so until today,&#8221; he&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xiSdd2NpY2g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>&nbsp;as he again spouted hate against Israel and its leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Erdogan even managed to impress former Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who sent a letter&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysabah.com\/diplomacy\/2019\/09\/26\/erdogans-historic-palestine-speech-at-un-echoes-worldwide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">thanking<\/a>&nbsp;him for speaking &#8220;on behalf of all persecuted Muslims in the world.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">When Erdogan was re-elected as Turkey&#8217;s president in the 2018 general election, many Palestinians, including Abbas and Hamas leaders, were quick to congratulate him on the victory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas &#8220;political bureau,&#8221;&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/fa\/originals\/2018\/06\/palestinians-turkey-elections-erdogan-support.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expressed<\/a>&nbsp;hope that Erdogan&#8217;s success would increase Turkish support for the Palestinians. Another Hamas official, Hazem Qassem,&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/fa\/originals\/2018\/06\/palestinians-turkey-elections-erdogan-support.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;Hamas is congratulating Erdogan for the success of the democratic experiment and for winning the presidential election. Hamas wants to build relations with regional countries such as Turkey and wants it to stand by the right of the Palestinian people to confront Israeli aggression.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Erdogan has indeed been supportive of some Palestinians &#8212; mainly, Hamas and its Palestinian leaders, some of whom&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=tnjEDwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA228&amp;lpg=PA228&amp;dq=hamas+leaders++living+in+Turkey&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=5QVLDos6uC&amp;sig=ACfU3U12YUczHXwySbKD8taT2A9QBnr9Xg&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjgy97pnOPpAhVIhXIEHbzEA7E4ChDoATABegQIChAB#v=onepage&amp;q=hamas%20leaders%20%20living%20in%20Turkey&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">live<\/a>&nbsp;in Turkey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">A December 2019&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ynetnews.com\/article\/Sy1kvBP0B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report<\/a>&nbsp;in the British daily&nbsp;<i>The Telegraph<\/i>&nbsp;revealed that Erdogan was &#8220;playing host&#8221; to Hamas. From Turkey, the Palestinian terror group, according to the report, has been plotting attacks against Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The activities of Hamas, the report said, include efforts to recruit suicide bombers &#8212; with a reward of $20,000 promised to the families of the terrorists &#8212; and to assassinate senior Israeli officials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In the past two years, several Hamas delegations have&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/ahvalnews.com\/turkey-hamas\/turkeys-erdogan-hamas-leader-haniyeh-discuss-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visited<\/a>&nbsp;Turkey for meetings with Erdogan and senior Turkish government functionaries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">While Erdogan is paying lip service to the Palestinian cause and praising Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU and Canada and Australia, Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria are complaining of discrimination and mistreatment by the Turkish authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">While portraying himself as the&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/jerusalem-red-line-for-muslims\/-jerusalem-is-not-for-sale-says-erdogan\/1719528\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defender<\/a>&nbsp;of the Palestinians and of the holy Islamic sites in Jerusalem, Erdogan is also depriving thousands of Palestinian refugees of basic rights, including access to education and medical care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Last week, Palestinian activists launched a&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/refugeesps.net\/posts\/14103?fbclid=IwAR1e2TcutQB0wdF-SD6yf4Q3F-6bYVQbqcM7tt-ra6BJpTt4H8OPl0wTZ4M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">campaign<\/a>&nbsp;to try to solve the legal problems facing Palestinian refugees in Turkey. The activists&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/refugeesps.net\/posts\/14103?fbclid=IwAR1e2TcutQB0wdF-SD6yf4Q3F-6bYVQbqcM7tt-ra6BJpTt4H8OPl0wTZ4M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>&nbsp;that Palestinian refugees who fled from Syria are required to report to Turkish security authorities once every two weeks. The Turkish authorities, the activists&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/qudspress.com\/index.php?page=show&amp;id=61080&amp;fbclid=IwAR0ZSW_H10WyvEIQePCPWV9rUWOdENgPRNXMbtliF0MzTd3Xk3zP5eHUIoQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">complained<\/a>, were refusing to issue official documentation for Palestinian children whose parents have failed to settle their legal status in the country. As a result, the children are being denied access to schools and medical care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">According to Palestinian&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/newturkpost.com\/news\/57778-%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D8%A3%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sources<\/a>, there are about 10,000 Palestinian refugees in Turkey who are suffering from discrimination and living in dire conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The biggest surprise for the Palestinians refugees, however, came when they&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/refugeesps.net\/posts\/14103?fbclid=IwAR1e2TcutQB0wdF-SD6yf4Q3F-6bYVQbqcM7tt-ra6BJpTt4H8OPl0wTZ4M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">noticed<\/a>&nbsp;that the Turkish authorities were labeling them as Syrian citizens.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">By registering them as Syrians, the Turkish authorities have put the Palestinian refugees in an impossible position. When Turkish authorities later check their documents and discover that they hold Palestinian passports although they have been labeled Syrians, the refugees are&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/refugeesps.net\/posts\/14103?fbclid=IwAR1e2TcutQB0wdF-SD6yf4Q3F-6bYVQbqcM7tt-ra6BJpTt4H8OPl0wTZ4M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">accused<\/a>&nbsp;of forgery and face imprisonment or deportation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The suffering of the Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria begins the moment they arrive at the border with Turkey, Thuri Tamim, a Palestinian refugee,&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/refugeesps.net\/posts\/14103\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a>&nbsp;the Palestinian Refugees Portal, an independent website covering news related to Palestinian refugees.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;Most of [the Palestinians] who entered Turkey illegally were arrested by the Turkish border guards. When they introduced themselves as Palestinians and presented their UNRWA-issued ID cards, they were imprisoned for 30-45 days.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Tamim pointed out that Palestinian refugees who fled from to Turkey from Syria are&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/refugeesps.net\/posts\/14103?fbclid=IwAR1e2TcutQB0wdF-SD6yf4Q3F-6bYVQbqcM7tt-ra6BJpTt4H8OPl0wTZ4M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">experiencing<\/a>&nbsp;&#8220;legal marginalization.&#8221; He and other Palestinian refugees said they found it bizarre that that the Turkish authorities do not recognize Palestinian refugees carrying Syrian documents as actually Palestinian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Another Palestinian activist, Mohammed Omar,&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/qudspress.com\/index.php?page=show&amp;id=61080&amp;fbclid=IwAR0ZSW_H10WyvEIQePCPWV9rUWOdENgPRNXMbtliF0MzTd3Xk3zP5eHUIoQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>&nbsp;that Turkey&#8217;s laws on refugees have made life unlivable for the Palestinians. &#8220;The Palestinian passport cannot be used for obtaining work permits, renting a home or receiving various services such as water, gas and electricity,&#8221; Omar lamented. The plight of the Palestinian refugees, he&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/qudspress.com\/index.php?page=show&amp;id=61080&amp;fbclid=IwAR0ZSW_H10WyvEIQePCPWV9rUWOdENgPRNXMbtliF0MzTd3Xk3zP5eHUIoQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">added<\/a>, has only intensified in the past few months, during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Instead of welcoming the Palestinians fleeing from the civil war in Syria, Erdogan is humiliating them and trying to throw them into prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">If Erdogan really wants to help the Palestinians, he can start by ordering his government to stop arresting and harassing Palestinian refugees. If he really wants to help the Palestinians, he can stop playing host and cash cow to Hamas, which has brought nothing but misery to Palestinians. As far as Erdogan is concerned, the Palestinians are just another card he seems to be using to&nbsp;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.al-monitor.com\/pulse\/originals\/2019\/10\/israel-turkey-palestinians-east-jerusalem-erdogan-katz.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">advance<\/a>&nbsp;his goal of becoming the &#8220;Sultan of all Muslims.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><i><strong>Khaled Abu Toameh<\/strong>, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\">\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Palestinians in Turkey: What Erdogan Says vs. What Erdogan Does Khaled Abu Toameh While Erdogan is paying lip service to the Palestinian cause and praising Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU, Canada and Australia, Palestinian refugees who fled to Turkey from Syria are complaining of discrimination and mistreatment by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78842"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79054,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78842\/revisions\/79054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}