BY Kourosh
Ziabari
The
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stirred up international
appreciation after he courageously blasted the Tel Aviv leaders for the bloody
massacre of the peace activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla convoy of
humanitarian aids which was heading towards the besieged Gaza strip to break
the three-year-long blockade of the war-stricken enclave.
The
beleaguered Gaza strip has been grappling with deteriorating economic and
social situation over the past three years and needs urgent humanitarian aids
to be disentangled from the growing crisis it's facing. More than 80% of the
Gaza strip's 1.5m population lives under poverty threshold. The unemployment
rate of the enclave hit 41.3% in 2008. According to the United Nations' World
Food Program (WFP), some 70 percent of Gaza's population is food insecure and
the vast majority is dependant on assistance from the United Nations to cover
its basic needs.
According
to the World Health Organization, 98 percent of industrial operations in Gaza
have been shut down and there are acute shortages of fuel, cash, cooking gas
and other basic supplies due to Israel's blockade of the enclave since 2007.
Israel's
military operation in Gaza in the late 2008 and early 2009 led to the
destruction of more than 7,500 Palestinian homes and displacement of some 3,500
families; however, Tel Aviv's prevention of the entry of infrastructural and
building materials have impeded the reconstruction of the ruined homes and
those 3,500 families are still living without any shelter and protection.
According
to the Gaza-based freelance journalist and photographer Sameh Habeeb, the
Israeli forces launched a massive attack on Gaza's infrastructures in June 2006
after an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was incarcerated by Hamas. Shalit is
the only Israeli prisoner being kept in the jails of Palestinian authorities
while the Israeli regime is keeping 7,383 Palestinian prisoners, 340 of whom
are Children.
Habeeb
reported that the key bridge linking the southern and northern areas of Gaza
was totally devastated during the Israeli assault. The sole power plant of the
Gaza strip was also destroyed after the Israeli military raided the city with
heavy F16 squadrons. The only key motorway of Gaza, Salah El-Din was another
vital construction in Gaza which the Israeli forces destroyed altogether.
Although the Japanese government had proposed a plan to reconstruct the
motorway, Israel never allowed this.
So
far, all the international efforts to reconstruct Gaza and renovate its
dilapidated infrastructures have been hindered by Tel Aviv. The majority of
Gazans are deprived of sanitation, electricity, proper education, pure water
and sufficient foodstuff.
Turkish
Prime Minister had previously complained that Israel did not allow the entry of
construction materials in the Gaza strip to accelerate the renovation process.
"This
construction is still not allowed [by Israel]. Turkey is not allowed to build
schools, houses, hospitals. The Israelis allow food and medicine to pass, but
not the rest," he had told the Philadelphia Inquirer in a 2009 interview.
As a
harbinger of political transformations and ideological revolution in Turkey,
the Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan who rose to power by the virtue of AK
Party's Muslim backgrounds has set off serious efforts over the past years to
champion the cause of Palestinian people. He has become an outspoken critic of
the Israeli regime and lambasted Tel Aviv on various occasions. In 2009, he
inspired widespread global admirations after he walked out of a televised
debate with the Israeli President on the sidelines of the 2009 World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In a reference to the tragic massacre of the
Palestinian citizens in the Gaza war, Erdogan told the Israeli President that
he is "killing people" and then stormed out of the debate in presence
of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, blaming the debate moderator's refusal
to allow him reply the fallacious statements made by Shimon Peres.
Canceling
his visit to the Latin America in the wake of recent incidents in the Gaza
strip, Erdogan stated before the Turkey's parliament that Israel should be
severely punished for its vicious massacre of the peace activists in the
international waters: "The bloody massacre of Israel, committed against
ships bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza, is a massacre deserving every kind of
curse and condemnation."
Trying
to appeal to the Jewish minority of Turkey, Erdogan implied that his country's
response to such violent acts would be hard-hitting and decisive:
"Turkey's friendship is valuable; on the other hand, its enmity is
violent. No one should test Turkey's patience. The Turkish nation has always
been in a historical friendship and collaboration with Jewish people. Here
Jewish people understands who is the true culprit of these events."
However,
Erdogan's message to Israel was unambiguous and clear: "A bloody regime,
now in power in "Israel", must be surely punished. Even pirates and
bandits do not touch unarmed people, children, elders, and they did it. And
these people try without shame to justify themselves."
Turkey
which has cancelled its recent joint military exercise with Israel is the only
Muslim state which maintains full diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. The
parliamentarians of the country have called on the government to take practical
steps to narrow its ties with the Zionist regime and, the government equally
seems to be inclined to the restriction of ties; however, it seems that tourism
and financial transaction with Israel which benefit Turkey monetarily are the
only reasons which impede the way of Ankara's detachment from Tel Aviv.
According
to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Israeli citizens comprise more
than 2.1% of the 20 million tourists who visit the country annually.
However,
Mr. Erdogan who has determinedly warned Israel that it might lose one of its
most important friends in the Middle East is gaining a growing popularity in
the Muslim world due to his recent categorical statements about the Israeli
regime. Reuters published a report on June 2, titled "Israel tension
boosts Turkey's popularity with Arabs" in which the rising esteem of
Turkish Prime Minister has been discussed. The report reads: "Already
popular for championing the Palestinian cause, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan has further enhanced his status through calls for the Jewish state to
be punished for the sea raid. The U.N. Security Council has condemned the
deaths."
Anyway,
it seems that Israel, as a globally hated regime, brings popularity and
reputation to whoever contests its unilateral, hypocritical and atrocious
policies and actions.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-politics/erdogan;-the-new-hero-of-islamic-world/d/2962