31 March 2017•Update: 02 April 2017
By Turgut Alp Boyraz and Esat Firat
JERUSALEM
Palestinian scholars this week reacted to western media campaigns against Turkey and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel’s northern branch, said that recent attacks on President Erdogan by western leaders, journalists and intellectuals “reveal the hypocritical face of the West".
"They target President Erdogan, a leading symbol of the Muslim world, with hatred," the Palestinian resistance icon said.
According to Salah, the West wants an “under-developed Islamic world chronically dependent on foreign aid”.
"The hatred and hostility of the crusader mentality is alive and well," the leader asserted.
He went on to point out that Erdogan had begun a major push towards regional development that had instilled a “sense of hope” in the Muslim world.
Stressing that Turkey had finally achieved its rightful status under President Erdogan’s leadership, Salah added: "Erdogan, the voice of the Turkish popular will, has renewed international confidence in his country."
President Erdogan’s recent achievements, however, had drawn the ire of western leaders, he said.
“Thus, the historical crusader mentality was reignited,” he stressed. "This spirit of hate is obvious in the speeches of western leaders."
Salah added: "When I watch world politics from a distance, I ask myself, ‘Who is to blame?’ Putin and Trump -- who shed innocent blood all over the world -- or Erdogan, who has worked to ensure Turkey’s development?"
"President Erdogan symbolizes the hope of the oppressed Palestinian people and the liberation of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he asserted.
Western leaders, Salah said, “want to extinguish our hope -- but they will fail”.
Ekrima Said Sabri, for his part, a former grand mufti of Jerusalem and imam of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, likewise called for an end to Europe’s hostile attitude toward Turks.
According to Sabri, western states should reconsider their relations with Turkey and operate within the framework of respect and goodwill.
Turkey recently had a falling-out with certain European countries, particularly Germany and the Netherlands, both of which stopped Turkish government officials from entering the country to organize rallies in advance of Turkey’s upcoming constitutional referendum.
*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara
