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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded to recent comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently declared that Jerusalem will always be “our city and not yours.”
“As Muslims, we will not take a single step back from our rights over East Jerusalem,” Erdoğan said yesterday in a speech in Ankara. “Our struggle to ensure that Jerusalem, regarded as holy by all Abrahamic religions, once again becomes a city of peace, tranquility, and security will continue with unwavering determination, without slowing down, retreating, or weakening.”
He added that Turkey would continue to support the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders. “We will continue to work with all our strength for this,” he said.
Netanyahu had spoken on Sep 16 at the reopening of the Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem, a first-century path once used by Jewish pilgrims. Addressing Erdoğan directly, he said, “This is our city, Mr. Erdoğan. It’s not your city. It will always be our city. It will not be divided again.” His remarks reflected Israel’s unilateral stance on Jerusalem, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions that consider East Jerusalem occupied territory.
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‘Hitler wannabe’
In his response, Erdoğan referred to the Ottoman rule in the city, saying, “As members of a nation that carried the banner of Islam for centuries, we had the honor of serving Quds al-Sharif for 400 years.
“Netanyahu does not know this. But I declare once again from here, maybe he will learn: we made this praised city a home of peace and serenity for all believers for centuries. We respected the rights of Christians and Jews, just as we did for Muslims.”
Erdoğan also reacted to Netanyahu’s reference to him in a story about the Siloam Inscription, an ancient Jewish tablet currently in Turkey. The Israeli PM said that in 1998 he asked his then-counterpart Mesut Yılmaz to return the artifact, offering in exchange all Ottoman works in Israel and any sum requested. According to Netanyahu, Yılmaz refused, fearing backlash from the Islamist base led by Erdoğan, then mayor of Istanbul.
In response, Erdoğan said, “I know that the old wound of Hitler wannabes may never fade. They may never forget the stance we took 27 years ago during our time as mayor of İstanbul. Let them continue their fits of anger.
“We, as Muslims, will not take a single step back from our rights over East Jerusalem.” (VK)