Erdoğan warned that Turkey could sever diplomatic ties with the UAE, which it accuses of funding the PKK, for “betraying” the Palestinians.
Turkey accuses the United Arab Emirates of treason against Palestine and is studying suspending its diplomatic relations with the UAE or calling its ambassador to the Arab country for consultations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Friday after the peace agreement announced with Israel.
“I have given the necessary instructions to my foreign minister. We could suspend diplomatic relations or call our ambassador (in the UAE), because we are on the side of the Palestinian people. We have not allowed Palestine to be defeated, nor will we allow it to be defeated.” Erdoğan said, accusing the United Arab Emirates of supporting the Israeli policy of occupation of the Palestinian territories, while also criticising the policies in the region of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Previously, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already harshly condemned this Friday the agreement between the UAE and Israel announced by Donald Trump -in which Israel only agrees to “temporarily” suspend its annexation plans- for “betraying the Palestinian cause” .
“While betraying the Palestinian cause to serve their petty interests, the UAE tries to present this as an act of self-sacrifice for Palestine. The history and conscience of those who live in the region will not forget and never forgive this hypocritical behaviour,” said the statement issued from Ankara.
Tensions between UAE and Turkey
“UAE leaders have no authority to conduct negotiations with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian people and government, nor to make concessions that are critical to Palestine,” the official text added. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) itself has accused the UAE-Israel agreement of being a betrayal of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian cause.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already announced in fact that he “remains committed” to annexing several territories of the West Bank despite the agreement with the Emirates, which has become the third Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel after Egypt (1979 ) and Jordan (1994).
Although the agreement with Israel seems to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, the truth is that the tensions between Abu Dhabi and Ankara come from afar; the Turkish government has repeatedly accused the UAE of providing financial and logistical support to terrorist organisations that carry out attacks in Turkey, such as the PKK.
The United Arab Emirates are also part of the Saudi-led coalition that has launched since 2015 a devastating offensive in Yemen against the Houthi that has devastated the country and caused a humanitarian disaster; in Libya, the UAE supports the rebel general Khalifa Haftar, who is fighting against the legitimate government of Tripoli supported by Turkey; and in Syria, Abu Dhabi is a supporter of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
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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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