By Sikander Hayat
According to reports published in International press “Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey walked off the stage after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum, vowing never to return to the annual gathering.”
Israel has probably committed war crimes in Gaza during its latest offensive by bombing civilian shelters and UN compounds and any show of anger towards Israel is just but Mr Erdogan, as prime minister of Turkey, should not have walked off the stage and showed off his anger publically.
Turkey prides herself on the power of reason and as prime minister of the Turkish State Mr Erdogan should have voiced his concerns over this issue calmly as he did during the whole of the sitting which also included Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations, Amar Moussa, the Arab League’s secretary general and Mr. Peres, the president of Israel.
It was only at the end when the moderator did not give enough time to Mr Erdogan to rebut Mr Peres who was given last 25 minutes of the hour long debate that he lost his cool and walked off. He was given hero’s welcome on his return to Istanbul where thousands showed up to display their support for their leader.
Turkey has strong diplomatic relations with Israel and does play a valuable role as a bridge between the world of Islam and the Jewish state and any such action will contribute towards jeopardising this unique role.
I believe that Muslim leaders all over the world and especially from the major Muslim nations like Turkey must always think of the message that they will convey to their own public by showing strong emotions in open as these outbursts do translate themselves into anger against the West among the general Muslim populace and do not solve any problems that the Muslims have with the West.
During my recent visit to Pakistan, I really sensed that general public opinion is already very bad and any acts which can heal the wounds must be taken instead of aggravating the situation even further. This directly plays into the hands of those who want to enforce their strict doctrine in actually Islamic faith and hijack the genuine Muslim grievances.
According to reports published in International press “Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey walked off the stage after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum, vowing never to return to the annual gathering.”
Israel has probably committed war crimes in Gaza during its latest offensive by bombing civilian shelters and UN compounds and any show of anger towards Israel is just but Mr Erdogan, as prime minister of Turkey, should not have walked off the stage and showed off his anger publically.
Turkey prides herself on the power of reason and as prime minister of the Turkish State Mr Erdogan should have voiced his concerns over this issue calmly as he did during the whole of the sitting which also included Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations, Amar Moussa, the Arab League’s secretary general and Mr. Peres, the president of Israel.
It was only at the end when the moderator did not give enough time to Mr Erdogan to rebut Mr Peres who was given last 25 minutes of the hour long debate that he lost his cool and walked off. He was given hero’s welcome on his return to Istanbul where thousands showed up to display their support for their leader.
Turkey has strong diplomatic relations with Israel and does play a valuable role as a bridge between the world of Islam and the Jewish state and any such action will contribute towards jeopardising this unique role.
I believe that Muslim leaders all over the world and especially from the major Muslim nations like Turkey must always think of the message that they will convey to their own public by showing strong emotions in open as these outbursts do translate themselves into anger against the West among the general Muslim populace and do not solve any problems that the Muslims have with the West.
During my recent visit to Pakistan, I really sensed that general public opinion is already very bad and any acts which can heal the wounds must be taken instead of aggravating the situation even further. This directly plays into the hands of those who want to enforce their strict doctrine in actually Islamic faith and hijack the genuine Muslim grievances.
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