Turkey's Erdogan tells Arabs to embrace democracy
Source: TOI
CAIRO: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
told Arab leaders on Tuesday popular uprisings jolting their nations
were a "light of hope" for the oppressed and urged them to embrace
democracy.
"Democracy and freedom is as basic a right as bread and water for you, my brothers," Erdogan said in Cairo, his first stop on a tour of three Arab countries where "Arab Spring" revolts have toppled Arab autocrats, including Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak.
"The freedom message spreading from (Cairo's) Tahrir Square has become a light of hope for all the oppressed through Tripoli, Damascus and Sanaa," Erdogan said to an enthusiastic audience gathered in an opera house in the Egyptian capital.
Erdogan, whose has won plaudits across the Arab world through his growing criticism of Israel, was interrupted several times with standing ovations and chants of "Erdogan, Erdogan!".
Some members of the audience held Turkish and Egyptian flags and waved posters of the Turkish leader.
Erdogan, whose tour of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya is aimed at bolstering Turkey's influence in the changing region, said Arab leaders should "become the drivers of change instead of resisting it".
"Governments have to get their legitimacy from the people's will. Otherwise they are illegitimate, this is the core of Turkey's politics in the region," he said.
He criticised Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, a former ally who is facing international condemnation for a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
"Nobody can be a friend with or trust an administration that fires bullets at its people and attacks its cities with tanks," Erdogan said, stopping short of directly calling for Assad's resignation.
"A leader who kills his own people has lost his legitimacy," he said.
ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY U.S. President Barack Obama, seeking to restore Washington's reputation with Muslims after two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, visited Cairo two years ago to set out his vision of the region.
Erdogan's widely anticipated speech had been billed as Turkey's own plan for the Middle East, where it has become a political power due to its fast-growing economy and its ability to balance democracy and Islam.
Erdogan's recent criticism of Israel has drawn strong support in the Arab world.
In his Cairo speech, he called "Israel's illegitimate and inhumane policies" the greatest obstacle for peace in the region, and threw Turkey's weight behind a Palestinian bid for full membership of the United Nations later this month.
"Every Jewish settlement is a wall that blocks peace. We hope that Israeli people are aware of the walls of isolation their government builds for them," Erdogan said, adding the Israeli government's mentality was "inhumane and lacks all legal basis."
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.
"Democracy and freedom is as basic a right as bread and water for you, my brothers," Erdogan said in Cairo, his first stop on a tour of three Arab countries where "Arab Spring" revolts have toppled Arab autocrats, including Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak.
"The freedom message spreading from (Cairo's) Tahrir Square has become a light of hope for all the oppressed through Tripoli, Damascus and Sanaa," Erdogan said to an enthusiastic audience gathered in an opera house in the Egyptian capital.
Erdogan, whose has won plaudits across the Arab world through his growing criticism of Israel, was interrupted several times with standing ovations and chants of "Erdogan, Erdogan!".
Some members of the audience held Turkish and Egyptian flags and waved posters of the Turkish leader.
Erdogan, whose tour of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya is aimed at bolstering Turkey's influence in the changing region, said Arab leaders should "become the drivers of change instead of resisting it".
"Governments have to get their legitimacy from the people's will. Otherwise they are illegitimate, this is the core of Turkey's politics in the region," he said.
He criticised Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, a former ally who is facing international condemnation for a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
"Nobody can be a friend with or trust an administration that fires bullets at its people and attacks its cities with tanks," Erdogan said, stopping short of directly calling for Assad's resignation.
"A leader who kills his own people has lost his legitimacy," he said.
ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY U.S. President Barack Obama, seeking to restore Washington's reputation with Muslims after two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, visited Cairo two years ago to set out his vision of the region.
Erdogan's widely anticipated speech had been billed as Turkey's own plan for the Middle East, where it has become a political power due to its fast-growing economy and its ability to balance democracy and Islam.
Erdogan's recent criticism of Israel has drawn strong support in the Arab world.
In his Cairo speech, he called "Israel's illegitimate and inhumane policies" the greatest obstacle for peace in the region, and threw Turkey's weight behind a Palestinian bid for full membership of the United Nations later this month.
"Every Jewish settlement is a wall that blocks peace. We hope that Israeli people are aware of the walls of isolation their government builds for them," Erdogan said, adding the Israeli government's mentality was "inhumane and lacks all legal basis."
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.
Comments