The head of Markaz Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaa’ah Amukoko, in Lagos, Southwest, Nigeria, Mr. Abdul Ganiy Jumat has told his followers at a Get-Together that Turkey, which has been standing for a free and an independent Palestine internationally, was among the countries that recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Gani, who belongs to the Salafiyyah ilmiyyah of Madkhali, made the claim in a 25-minute controversial video, titled, ‘Palestine-Israel conflict: Islamic perspective’, where he also accused the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, of instigating the crisis for self and business interest.
Beginning from 17 minutes, 10 seconds in the video posted on the propaganda Facebook page of the organisation, Dawah Link, Mr. Jumat said, in Yoruba, that, Turkey had recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
According to him, “For instance, Turkey, which has always claimed to be supporting the Palestinian cause, has a robust relationship with Israel. Countless of Israeli planes fly and land on Turkish soil on daily basis, while countless of Turkish planes also land in Israel on daily basis.
Speaking further, he said;
“THE JERUSALEM WAS TAKEN BY ISRAEL AS THEIR CAPITAL, TURKEY HAS RECOGNISED IT AS ISRAEL’S CAPITAL….
The controversial leader, who is also known for disparaging scholars who do not subscribe to the Madkhali radical interpretation of Islam, didn’t, however, provide evidence to support his claims about Turkey.
Fact check:
Investigations carried out by Muslim News showed that there is no iota of truth in his claim. It’s false, unfounded and untrue.
Turkish President, Erdogan is one of the strong critics of Israel and Muslim News findings revealed that the-decade long robust relationship between the two countries, which was formalised in 1949, has been diminishing since the coming of President Erdogan in 2002.
In fact, according to an Al-Jazeera English report of December 19, 2020, “strained ties under Erdogan’s government were exacerbated in 2010 when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla seeking to breach Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killing eight Turkish nationals and an American-Turkish activist, while another Turkish national later died due to injuries sustained during the attack.” Read more HERE.
Evidently, there have been cases of expelling and recalling ambassadors of each country and investigations carried out by Muslim News showed that their dwindling relationship particularly under Erdoğan has been in defence of Palestinian liberation.
For instance in 2018, Turkey’s Erdoğan told the Israeli ambassador in Ankara and Vonsul General in Istanbul to leave the country, following Israeli aggression which claimed the lives of 60 Palestinians, including children. Read more HERE.
Turkey will never accept…
Turkey’s President Erdogan didn’t only condemn former US President, Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, he specifically said in strong terms that Turkey will never accept Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
This news was widely reported by major western media outlets because Erdogan made the statement at a joint news conference with the former British Prime Minister, Theresa May, in London, in May, 2018.
Erdoğan said the US government’s “indifferent policies” encouraged Israel more on the occupation and violence in Palestine, adding that, “Israel took these steps with the logic of ‘I have might, therefore I am right,’” whereas, “Israel is the occupier there and it continues terrorizing [Palestinians].” Read more HERE.
…Perhaps, Mr. Jumat and his followers were misled by this news
While digging further to search for more available reports, even if it was a fabrication that President Erdogan recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, we came across this news, with the headline, “Erdogan says Turkey aims to open embassy in East Jerusalem” as reported by Reuters on December 17, 2017, as well as The Guardian of UK, which says, “Turkey hopes to open embassy in East Jerusalem, says Erdoğan” of the same date.
Like a good number of people who merely rely on news headlines without reading the contents, Mr. Jumat and his followers, out of hatred for Turkey, might have been misled by the headline of the story, as reported by western media, whose animosity against President Erdoğan’s administration is evident.
But the right and correct headline which encapsulated the message of President Erdogan was “Turkey calls for recognition of East Jerusalem as capital of Palestine” as succinctly captured by TRT World, the international media Broadcaster.
What was Erdogan saying…
What President Erdogan rather said in 2017 as published by the international media outfit with different headlines was that he is ready to open Turkish embassy in East Jerusalem if the Muslim world take a bold step to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Erdogan made this remark at the OIC summit of Muslim leaders, held in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Reuters however wrote, “It was not clear how he would carry out the move, as Israel controls all of Jerusalem and calls the city its indivisible capital. Palestinians want the capital of a future state they seek to be in East Jerusalem, which Israel took in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognized internationally.”
In his response, President Erdogan, who won the Global Muslim Personality of the Year for the third consecutive time (2018 to 2020), an award organised by this medium, said, “God willing, the day is close when officially, with God’s permission, we will open our embassy there.”
There are many lies, distortions about the advocate of Palestinians’ struggle in the controversial video, which some analysts believe should be removed by Facebook, but we at Muslim News would clear the air on them, one by one, in due course.
