Meeting in Berlin, 70-year-old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took his case against Israel to 65-year-old German Chancellor Olaf Schoz, urging the German leader to push for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza. Erdogna has publicly referred to Israel as “terror state,” referring to Hamas terrorists a “liberators.” While Erdogan didn’t bring up incendiary statements, he asked Scholz to call for a ceasefire to stop the destruction and carnage to Gaza civilians. “Shooting hospitals or killing children does not exist in the Torah, you can’t do it,” Erdogan said, implying that Jews can’t defend themselves against terrorist attacks. “Israel’s attacks on Palestinian lands must end and that the reaction from the whole world against human rights violations is important,” Erdogan told Scholz. Scholz told Erdogan that Israel had a right to defend itself against gruesome Oct 7 terrorist atrocities.
Erdogan said that Germany had its hands tied because of its past with the Holocaust, something Turkey had no part of and can speak freely about what’s going on in Gaza. How ironic that Erdogan, a descendant of the Ottoman Turks, led the 20th century’s first genocide against 1.5 million Armenians, something modern-day Trukey has never faced. Germany has taken full responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust, killing some six million Jews and millions of others during Hitler’s Third Reich. Erdogan knows that the Ottoman Empire ruled the Holy Land until 1920 when the Empire was broken up by allied powers at the Treaty of Sevres. Gaza was taken from Istanbul and given to Cairo who managed the seaside Mediterranean area for 47-years until the 1967 Six Day War. After Israel defeated Palestinians and six other Arab states, Gaza, Jordan’s West Bank and Syria’s Golan Heights were annexed by Israel.
Turkey has a large contingent of expats living in Germany, once working in the Germany auto industry. Erdogan sides with Palestinians because of their shared Sunni Muslim heritage, having ruled the Holy Land for over 500 years. But going to Germany, Erdogan found nothing but support for Israel. Erdogan can’t speak for Germans, whatever the history in WW II. Scholz speaks freely about Israel when he says Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas terrorists. Erdogan treats Hamas terrorists no differently than ISSI, an outlaw Islamic group claiming to represent Muslims across a wider Mideast caliphate. “There is a need to make Israel’s self-defense possible and not to call it into questions,” Scholz told Erdogan. “I speak freely because we do not owe Israel anything. We did not go through the Holocaust,” Edrogan said, suggesting that Scholz couldn’t speak his mind.
Erdogan has never resolved the Ottoman Turk’s historic genocide against Armenians in 1915, certainly nothing Armenians have forgotten. Does Erdogan think that Tureky can’t speak about the Armenian genocide because of the Ottoman Turk’s direct involvement in massacring 1.5 million Armenians? Erdogan’s statement was a cheap shot, implying that Scholz actually condemned Israel’s war against Hamas but can’t be honest because of Germany’s history with the Holocaust. “If we were in debt, we could not talk so freely. But those who are in debt cannot talk freely,” Erdogan said of Scholz. Frankfurther Allemange Zeitung daily said the Erdogan wants to position himself to peak for the Iislamic world. Whether that’s true or not, Turkey certainly speaks differently than the rest of the European Union where there’s strong support for Israel’s security.
Erdogan has a lot of nerve going to Berlin to tell the German Chancellor that he can’t speak freely about the Israeli-Gaza war because of Germany’s history with the Holocaust. Scholz knows all about the Ottoman Turk’s Armenian genocide but lets Erdogan ramble on as if he’s completely oblivious. Germany backs Israel in their war against Hamas because rt knows it can’t live with a genocidal state on its border. Hamas has made no bones of its charter to destroy the Jewish State, including massacring all its inhabitants. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (R-Mich.), the only Palestinian member of Congress, who said recently “from the river to the sea,” understands what the statement means to Hamas and other Palestinians. It was the rallying cry of every Palestinian war of annihilation against Israel. Erdogan shows no empathy for Israel as it battles for its survival with so much Arab hatred.
Scholz showed Erdogan that the two nations can agree to disagree over the Israeli-Hamas War. Scholz sees no chance for peace without Hamas leaving Gaza and a new government formed. Erdogan wants to grandstand to the Islamic world, rally support for Palestinians, with all Mideast states, including Iran, saying no thanks to getting involved in the war. Even Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told exiled Hams leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran that Iran would not join the Israeli-Hamas war. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salaman let Hamas know that he also won’t participate in any war against Israel. Palestinians have gotten the message from Europe and Arab states that they do not support Hamas any longer. Erdogan hasn’t gotten the message that the old anti-Semitic tropes no longer work in today’s world seeking peace and stability.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
