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TURKEY - Hamas: 'We want Erdo
The Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, success in Turkey has become a model for Hamas, the group’s deputy foreign minister Ahmad Yusuf told daily Hürriyet.
The Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, success in Turkey has become a model for Hamas, the group’s deputy foreign minister Ahmad Yusuf told daily Hürriyet.
“If you speak with the people in Gaza, you will see that everybody speaks like [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan. I mean, they all want what he wants for his own country,” Yusuf said, adding that this is contrary to foreign public opinion, which assumes Hamas to be equivalent to the Taliban or al-Qaeda.
According to Yusuf, who said he is writing a book called “Erdoğan and a New Strategic Vision,” the Taliban is “opposed to everything,” including education and women’s rights.
“Erdoğan’s model, on the other hand, is liberal. It is a model that dares to take responsibility and change things and establishes good relations between the religious and secular elements of society,” he said. “It is a model that works for democracy and human rights, and supports an open society. That is what we want.”
Yusuf added that the “martyrs” on the Mavi Marmara ship broke through the Gaza blockade and ignited public opinion all around the world. “Now EU countries are talking about it, aiming to come up with solutions,” he said. “Those who died on that ship sacrificed their lives for this sake.”
The Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, success in Turkey has become a model for Hamas, the group’s deputy foreign minister Ahmad Yusuf told daily Hürriyet.
The Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, success in Turkey has become a model for Hamas, the group’s deputy foreign minister Ahmad Yusuf told daily Hürriyet.
“If you speak with the people in Gaza, you will see that everybody speaks like [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan. I mean, they all want what he wants for his own country,” Yusuf said, adding that this is contrary to foreign public opinion, which assumes Hamas to be equivalent to the Taliban or al-Qaeda.
According to Yusuf, who said he is writing a book called “Erdoğan and a New Strategic Vision,” the Taliban is “opposed to everything,” including education and women’s rights.
“Erdoğan’s model, on the other hand, is liberal. It is a model that dares to take responsibility and change things and establishes good relations between the religious and secular elements of society,” he said. “It is a model that works for democracy and human rights, and supports an open society. That is what we want.”
Yusuf added that the “martyrs” on the Mavi Marmara ship broke through the Gaza blockade and ignited public opinion all around the world. “Now EU countries are talking about it, aiming to come up with solutions,” he said. “Those who died on that ship sacrificed their lives for this sake.”
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