Turkish ministers receive Down syndrome Palestinian

By Burcu Calik and Yesim Sert Karaarslan

ANKARA

Turkey's Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmus received on Thursday a Palestinian man with Down syndrome along with his family.

Mohamed al-Tawil, a 29-year-old Palestinian with Down syndrome, was detained for an hour by Israeli troops in Hebron on Dec. 10 during protests against U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The minister received them at his office in the capital Ankara.

Tawil, along with his parents, was brought to Istanbul last Sunday through the efforts of Turkey-based International Down Syndrome Federation (UDF).

Mohammad Abdullah Tuncay, the head of the federation, and Aydan Gomugen, the secretary-general, also attended the meeting.

“Our brother Mohammed al-Tawil is one of the symbolic heroes of the [Palestinian] struggle. As an indication of our support for Palestine, we hosted them in Turkey,” Kurtulmus said.

Thanking Turkey for its support, Tawil said: “I am very happy to be in Turkey. I want to stay here and be a citizen of this country.”

Regarding the Thursday's vote on Jerusalem in the UN General Assemby, Kurtulmus said Turkey hopes to challenge Trump's decision with a majority vote.

Kurtulmus also rejected the claims by United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

On Saturday, Nahyan retweeted an image suggesting that celebrated Ottoman army commander Fahreddin Pasha, who had served as governor of Medina from 1916 to 1919, had committed abuses against the local population and had even pilfered their property.

Replying to the offensive post, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday tweeted: “It’s no coincidence that those who take pride in keeping the company of tyrants -- at a time when Muslims are under violent attack -- would target Fahreddin Pasha."

Separately, Health Minister Ahmet Demircan also received Tawil and his parents at his office.

“Turkey will do its part to recover the trauma Mohammed [Tawil] has been exposed to,” Demircan said.