Turkey urges Muslim states to stand up against Israel

HATAY, Turkey (AA): Turkey’s foreign minister appealed Monday to Muslim nations to speak out strongly against Israeli policies against Palestinians.

Those who refrain from raising their voice against Israel cannot defend Jerusalem, said Mevlut Cavusoglu at an election campaign event in southern Hatay province.

“We see that those Muslim countries which get afraid of the U.S. and Israel start faltering. There are even some countries pressuring Palestine ‘not to raise their voice too much’. Are these the ones to defend Jerusalem?” said Cavusoglu.

Turkey’s top diplomat also said that the same countries acted “cowardly” when voting against the U.S. and Israel at various Islamic summits and UN General Assembly meetings in the last two years.

Cavusoglu said Turkey was struggling against many threats including terrorism, adding that the stability and peace in Syria were important for Turkish border cities like Hatay.

In December 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump sparked international outrage when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and vowed to relocate Washington’s embassy to the city.

Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as Israel’s “eternal undivided capital” — a move never recognized by the international community.

International law views the entire West Bank as “occupied territory” and considers all Israeli settlement building there as illegal.

Later visiting a refugee camp in Yayladagi, Cavusoglu vowed to stand up with Syria’s Bayirbucak Turkmen population.

“When Syria is stabilized, our [Syrian] brothers and sisters, including Bayirbucak Turkmens, will return to their homes in peace.”

He said Turkey was exerting every effort to find a lasting solution in Syria.

“We will clear east of the Euphrates River from terrorists, there is no other alternative or option.”

Ban on Turkish nationalist salute in Austria

About Austria’s ban on Turkish nationalist salute “Grey Wolves”, Cavusoglu said the move was reflection of Islamophobia and sentiment against Turkey.

“When Austria, as in Germany, said they will issue a decree to ban the symbols and signs of PKK terror group, we were pleased to hear that because we had been pressuring them like ‘You are allowing PKK to demonstrate here, you are hosting terrorists’,” said Cavusoglu when he visited the opposition Nationalist Party’s headquarters in Hatay.

“Then they said they need to issue a law to ban it and prepared a draft law. At the last moment, we realized that they also included Grey Wolves symbol in this law, as well.”

“No one can forbid any of our symbols, we will not allow it,” Cavusoglu said and vowed to show the symbol at his first visit to Austria to violate the law.

Under changes to the 2014 Symbol Act passed last December, the Rabaa sign, an anti-coup symbol, and Turkey’s nationalist “Grey Wolves” salute were both banned in Austria in a move to prohibit symbols of extremist organizations.

People violating the law in public areas may be fined up to €4,000 ($4,553) or given a-month prison term under the amended law.

Violators may face €10,000 ($11,386) fine or a six-week jail term if the breach of ban is repeated.

In 2015, this law was firstly implemented to avoid the propaganda of terrorist organizations such as Daesh and al-Qaeda and then expanded as symbols of PKK, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, the military wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Croatian Ustasa were added.

The PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.