Turks protest on centenary of 1917 Balfour declaration

ANKARA

Groups of Turkish protesters took to the streets on Thursday to demonstrate against the Balfour declaration that set the stage for a Jewish state in the Middle East.

In Ankara, dozens of members of the Anatolian Youth Association marked the centenary of the letter containing a statement by then U.K. Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in support of “a national home for the Jewish people”.

Waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and placards, protesters gathered outside the British Embassy.

Head of the association’s Ankara branch, Hasan Karaman, read out the 1917 letter to Lord Rothschild, then a leading figure in Britain’s Jewish community.

“Today is the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration, which is an embarrassment for England,” he said.

He called on the U.K to apologize to the Palestinian people for its support for a Jewish homeland.

At Sakarya University in northwest Turkey, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation led protesters, including Palestinian student Zaid Maher.

He said the declaration had played a role in fostering sectarian divisions between Muslims.

“Divisions among Muslims only benefit those who play dirty games on Muslims,” Maher added.

Reporting by Orhan Onur Gemici; Writing by Sibel Ugurlu