Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told Arab states on
Tuesday it was time to raise the Palestinian flag at the United Nations and
accused Israel of obstructing peace in the Middle East.
Erdogan, addressing Arab
foreign ministers in Cairo at the start of a Middle Eastern tour, said backing
a bid for recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this
month was "not an option but an obligation" for Arab states.
He accused the United States,
a close ally of Israel whose relations withTurkey have
been frayed in recent months, of demonstrating prejudice in opposing the move
as a potential irritant in a volatile area.
"While Israel is trying
to secure its legitimacy in our region on one hand, it is taking irresponsible
steps which unsettle its legitimacy on the other," Erdogan said.
Erdogan's recent criticism of
Israel has drawn strong support in the Arab world, buttressing his campaign to
promote Ankara's blend of Islam and democracy as a model for movements that
have toppled several Arab autocrats, including Egyptian former president Hosni
Mubarak.
He made no specific
accusations but has in the past criticized Israel for building settlements on
occupied land envisaged as part of a Palestinian state.
He has also protested over
Israel's offensive against Gaza in 2008, which largely spelt the end of a close
alliance between Turkey and Israel, and has condemned its attack on a Turkish
ship heading for Gaza that killed nine Turks last year.
"ERDOGAN, ERDOGAN!"
Erdogan's tour will include Tunisia and
Libya, which have all witnessed the fall of entrenched leaders to grassroots
revolts this year, challenging the old order across the region.
"Erdogan, Erdogan!"
cheered a group of demonstrators as the Turkish prime minister left the
headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo where he had been speaking. They were
calling for change in Syria, whose military is trying to crush an
uprising.
Displaying a populist touch,
Erdogan stopped and shook the demonstrators' hands.
"It's time to raise the
Palestinian flag at the United Nations," he told the Arab ministers.
"Let's raise the Palestinian flag and let that flag be the symbol of peace
and justice in the Middle East. Let's contribute to securing well deserved
peace and stability in the Middle East."
Palestinians will bid for
full membership of the United Nations later this month, a move opposed by the
United States, which has a veto. Arab states endorsed it at the Cairo meeting,
where Erdogan accused the United States of being biased and urged it to
reconsider.
"The United States
should reconsider the statement it made in relation to the bid Palestine is
going to make to the United Nations. This prejudice is not befitting to the
foreign policy of a country like the United States," he said.
Erdogan said Turkey offered
its help to Arab nations facing turmoil but, in an apparent reference to Syria,
he said some had turned down the offer.
"However, we continue to
insist they meet their people's demands."
Arab League Secretary-General
Nabil Elaraby introduced the Turkish prime minister saying: "All the Arab
peoples appreciate what you are doing. We consider that there is a strong
friendly state who is always standing on the side of justice."
Outside the League, Syrian
protester Samer Zaher, 30, said: "Erdogan has turned into an Arab hero ...
We have not found a leader as powerful as him addressing (Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad) and asking him to quit."
Erdogan later addressed the
Syrian issue directly, saying in a public speech before several thousand
Cairenes that he like most Syrians had lost faith in Assad.
"As civilian deaths
increase in Syria we see that reforms have not materialized and they did not
speak honestly. It is not possible to believe this. And the Syrian people do
not believe in Assad, nor do I. We also do not believe him," he said in
the grounds of the Cairo opera house.
WINNING OVER ARABS
Turkey expelled the Israeli
ambassador last week in a row over an Israeli raid last year that killed nine
Turks on a flotilla bound for Gaza, the Palestinian enclave controlled by the
Islamist group Hamas and under blockade by Israel.
While winning over ordinary
Arabs, particularly because of non-Arab Turkey's tough line toward Israel,
Erdogan's growing popularity and clout could be a headache for more cautious
Arab leaders who could see their own influence overshadowed.
"Turkey wants to play a
regional role, especially when Egypt is busy with the revolution. Turkey thinks
it's best placed to play this leadership role," said Adel Soliman, head of
Cairo's International Center for Future and Strategic Studies.
Egypt has traditionally seen
itself as the leading diplomatic player in the Arab region. But its position
has been eroded by wealthy Gulf countries, such as Qatar, and lately
overshadowed by Turkey, with its fast-expanding economy.
Erdogan met Egypt's Field
Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council that took over
after Hosni Mubarak was ousted by mass street demonstrations in February.
Egypt has also been embroiled
in a dispute with Israel after Israel shot dead five Egyptian border guards in
repelling cross-border raiders it said were Palestinian militants.
But Egypt's generals have
faced popular criticism for not taking a firmer line. Cairo said it would expel
Israel's ambassador but did not follow through with threat.
Protesters attacked Israel's
embassy in Cairo last week, prompting the ambassador to fly home and an
embarrassed Egyptian government to affirm to Washington, its major aid donor,
that it remained committed to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
Egypt has received billions
of dollars in U.S. military and other aid since making peace with the Jewish
state, so the military council faces a difficult balancing act responding to
public calls for an assertive policy toward Israel.
Erdogan was cheered by a
crowd when he arrived in Cairo and met by Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.
Many appeared to be from Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, who
approve of Erdogan's bringing Islamists into mainstream Turkish politics.
"Erdogan, Erdogan -- a
big welcome from the Brothers!" one banner said. "Hero Erdogan"
was written on a photo of the prime minister.
(Editing by Giles Elgood)
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Source : Reuters
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