Addressing the 16th Session of the PUIC Conference, Erdoğan said: “Al-Quds is the cause of not only a handful of brave Muslims in Palestine, but it is the common cause of the entire Islamic world. Defending Al-Quds means defending the humanity; embracing Al-Quds means embracing the law and rights, peace, justice and civilization.”

It is an appropriate choice that the main theme of this year’s conference has been designated as sharing, conscience and Islam, Palestine, migration and Afghanistan, the President noted, conveying his gratitude for those taking part in organizing the meeting.

“We have displayed an approach centered on humanitarian values during the pandemic”

Praying for Allah to save the Islamic world and the whole humanity from the scourge of the pandemic immediately, Erdoğan said: “During the pandemic, we have displayed an approach based on the human being, humanity and humanitarian values. In all the international platforms of which we are a member, we have drawn attention, right from the onset, to the importance of cooperation and solidarity in the fight against the pandemic. We have done so not only in words but also in deeds through our works, supports and aid activities. While those never missing any chance to lecture humanity on democracy, rights, law and justice have turned a deaf ear to the tragedies occurring outside their borders, we have endeavored to share all the means and resources at our disposal with all the friendly and brotherly countries. We have dispatched aid to 160 countries and 12 international organizations in need. What is more, we have supplied 11 countries with vaccines. We have already applied for the emergency use of TURKOVAC, our local vaccine, a short while ago. We have been closely following the ongoing process concerning our local vaccine. We hope this process will be completed as soon as possible.”

“Defending al-Quds means defending the humanity”

Describing the Palestinian cause as a building block that led to the establishment of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Erdoğan stated: “Al-Quds is the cause of not only a handful of brave Muslims in Palestine, but it is the common cause of the entire Islamic world. Defending Al-Quds means defending the humanity; embracing Al-Quds means embracing the law and rights, peace, justice and civilization. The cause of Palestine, which is also the raison d’être of the OIC, continues to be one of the primary items on our agenda.”

Erdoğan underscored that unilateral practices and policies that violate the international law are increasing day by day in the West Bank and Al-Quds.

The Palestinians are being executed mercilessly in broad daylight, innocent Palestinian kids are being treated as if they were bloody terrorists, and harassments against houses of worship are on the rise, the President stressed, adding that the unjust, unlawful and merciless blockade targeting Gaza is still in place.

Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “These policies, aimed at strangulating Palestine and thereby deterring it from its rightful cause, have yielded no outcome thus far thanks to the glorious resistance of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. What is more, these policies have done no good to the Israelis or to the peoples of the region except for a handful of fanatics. Quite the contrary, normalization efforts in the region have always remained inconclusive and anti-Semitism has escalated due to these policies. I believe that these facts are now realized by all.”

Insistence on occupation, violence and apartheid no longer benefits anyone, Erdoğan underlined. “It is unscrupulous and unfair to try to make the Palestinians pay the price for the genocide that had been perpetrated against the Jews in Europe during the World War II. As I have said previously and would like to underline hereby once again, we have never discriminated between sufferings, between deaths. Just as the footage of Muhammad Al-Durra’s martyrdom while taking shelter behind his father’s back tears our hearts out, Anna Frank’s story also makes our hearts bleed. We categorically reject the marginalization and demonization of any people or of any faith group no matter what. It is a requirement of our faith and humanity to oppose oppression regardless of its perpetrator and to lend a helping hand to the innocent no matter who they are. As the descendants of an ancestry that had administered Al-Quds with justice for 400 years, we don’t want to see blood, tears and oppression in Palestine. As the members of a nation that had opened its doors to the Jews fleeing Spain five centuries ago, our primary goal is the establishment of lasting peace and stability in Palestine. The way to this, as we state at every opportunity, is through the establishment of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine that has territorial integrity within the 1967 boundaries with Al-Quds Al-Sharif its capital. In this spirit, we preserve our sensitivity regarding the status of Eastern Al-Quds and the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

“We should avoid any action that may undermine the Palestinian cause”

Erdoğan recalled that the two extraordinary summit meetings on Palestine, which Turkey had hosted during its OIC term presidency between 2016 and 2019, had prompted the United Nations, the OIC and other international organizations to take action.

The strengthening of the climate of peace in the region is yet again dependent on the steps to be taken in the period ahead by the OIC members, the President stressed. “As the OIC members, we should act in unity and solidarity, avoiding any action that may undermine the Palestinian cause. Despite all the obstacles and shortcomings in the international system, we should continue our efforts to make sure that the Palestinian cause is promoted to its rightful place on the global agenda and a fair solution is found to the issue. However, it is of paramount importance in terms of the success of the ongoing efforts that the Palestinians themselves put an end to the division within themselves. It is the Palestinians’ adversaries that are most delighted by the tensions, resentments and disagreements among our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Our expectation is that our Palestinian brothers and sisters give support to this process by consolidating their unity and solidarity.”

“We cannot afford to turn our back on the Afghan people”

“It is our shared wish that lasting peace and stability be established in Afghanistan,” Erdoğan stated, and added: “We cannot afford to turn our back on the Afghan people or turn a blind eye to the humanitarian tragedy taking place in this country. Particularly, maintaining humanitarian aids to our Afghan brothers and sisters has priority under the current harsh winter conditions. We, for our part, provide all the support and aid we can to Afghanistan, with which we have deep-rooted relations, and to our Afghan brothers and sisters.” (ILKHA)

Pointing out that the developments in Afghanistan increased the risk of another migration flow, President Erdoğan underlined that Türkiye, which has been hosting nearly 5 million foreigners, 3.6 millions of whom have come from Syria, cannot shoulder a new burden of migration.

“THE WESTERN WORLD HAS ALWAYS PLAYED OSTRICH IN THE FACE OF SYRIAN CRISIS”

Stressing that the Syrian crisis was very important in terms of showing the discriminatory, exclusionary and inhumane attitudes of European countries towards refugees, President Erdoğan said: “The Western world has always played ostrich in the face of this crisis, which has left its 10th year behind. Those were the very same people who did not show any concern for babies Ümran and Ayla, whose tragedies tore our hearts out. They have done nothing to ease the burden on millions of people in the north of Syria. Moreover, they have never hesitated to support such terrorist organizations as PKK and YPG under the pretext of fighting DAESH. They have yet to deliver on most of the promises of aid they have made to our country. Besides the attacks of the regime and terrorist organizations, the hypocrisy of the Western world has a role, too, in the death of nearly one million people and the forced displacement of 12 million people in Syria.”

“WE SHOULD TAKE MORE RESOLUTE STEPS IN FIGHTING ANIMOSITY TOWARDS ISLAM”

Underscoring that Muslims fought against not only the coronavirus or humanitarian crises but also the increasing animosity towards Islam, President Erdoğan noted: “Muslims, especially Muslim women, suffer from racist and discriminatory policies in many countries across the world. Today, hate speeches occupy daily lives along with politics in many Western countries, which supposedly advocate democracy and human rights. Almost every day we hear about a citizen of ours, a Muslim sister of ours who is abused by racists in the street, at the workplace, at school, on the bus, at the market, or at the grocery. Instead of combating this vicious trend, European politicians embrace rhetoric that points at Muslims and migrants, and add fuel to the fire, so to speak. We cannot allow Europe, where 35 million Muslims of different roots live in, to turn into a concentration camp for our brothers and sisters. We as the OIC should take more resolute steps in fighting animosity towards Islam and hate speech.”