Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan released a video message on the occasion of the celebration of the Feast of Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı in Turkish, Eid al-Adha in Arabic) in which he underlined the ‘bitterness’ of celebrating one of the most important holidays for Muslims while massacres continue in Gaza and the population of the Strip suffers a very serious humanitarian crisis, while praising the Palestinians’ resistance and struggle to protect their land in the face of Israeli aggression.
‘On behalf of my country and my people, I respectfully congratulate our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are waging an epic struggle in Gaza and the occupied (West Bank) territories, who are showing dignified resistance in the face of all of Israel’s barbarism, and whom I wholeheartedly congratulate on the occasion of Eid al-Adha,’ Erdoğan said in a video message echoed by numerous Turkish media.
‘As Muslims, we celebrate this Eid again with bitterness because of the policy of massacres, genocide, destruction and savagery that Israel has been carrying out in the last 20 months,’ the Turkish president continued. ‘On the one hand we feel the happiness of the Feast of Sacrifice, but on the other hand we feel the pain of the Gazan people, who celebrate Eid amidst rubble,’ he added in the message, in which he also criticised the main Turkish opposition party for not celebrating the holiday with other parties: ‘All colours of Turkey should be able to come together, especially during Eid. Because our name is brotherhood, and our surname Turkey‘.
“As Turkey, we are doing everything in our power to stop the genocide in Palestine, also to end the war between Russia and Ukraine through a just peace. The meeting held in Istanbul was a historic step towards ending the bloody war in our north, which has entered its fourth year,” he said, referring to the recent negotiations that the Russians and Ukrainians resumed in Istanbul, with two meetings held on 16 May and 2 June under Ankara’s mediation.
The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, has begun
On the occasion of Eid, the Turkish president telephoned Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to congratulate him on this important holiday in the Islamic calendar. In the telephone conversation, both discussed regional and global issues and Erdoğan insisted that Turkey would continue to support the Palestinians, while welcoming the lifting of EU and US sanctions on Syria. He also congratulated the de facto Saudi ruler on the smooth organisation of the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Feast of Sacrifice or Eid al-Adha is one of the most important festivals for Muslims along with Eid al-Fitr (Ramazan Bayramı or Şeker Bayramı in Turkish), which marks the end of fasting after the month of Ramadan. In the case of Eid, this festival commemorates the Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice of a ram that God gave him after He first tested his faith by asking him to sacrifice his first-born son. It is customary on these days for families to gather together: an animal (a cow, sheep, ram or lamb) is sacrificed and its meat distributed among neighbours and the poor.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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