DUBAI: A senior United Arab Emirates official said on Saturday Turkey's policy towards Arab states was not reasonable and advised it to respect their sovereignty.
Relations between the two countries have been strained by Ankara’s support for Qatar after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on Doha last year over its alleged support for extremist groups.
"It is no secret that Arab-Turkish relations aren't in their best state," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted.
"In order to return to balance, Ankara has to respect Arab sovereignty and deal with its neighbors with wisdom and rationality," he said.
The UAE sees itself as a bulwark against extremist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. Abu Dhabi has long been uneasy with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK party and its support for such groups.
The two countries were drawn into a quarrel in December over a retweet by the Emirati foreign minister that Erdogan called an insult.
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed shared a tweet at the time that accused Turkish troops of looting the holy city of Medina a century ago, prompting Erdogan to lash out saying that the minister had been spoiled by oil money.
Turkey then renamed the street in Ankara where the UAE Embassy is located after the Ottoman military commander who Sheikh Abdullah had appeared to criticize.
UAE asks Turkey to respect Arab states’ sovereignty
UAE asks Turkey to respect Arab states’ sovereignty
Israeli FM urges Jews to move to Israel a week after Sydney attack
- “Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said
JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.
“Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world,” Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
“Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said at the ceremony, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organizations worldwide.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced a surge in antisemitism in Western countries and accused their governments of failing to curb it.
Australian authorities have said the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach was inspired by the ideology of the Islamic State jihadist group.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Western governments to better protect their Jewish citizens.
“I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide,” Netanyahu said in a video address.
In October, Saar accused British authorities of failing to take action to curb a “toxic wave of antisemitism” following an attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in which two people were killed and four wounded.
According to Israel’s 1950 “Law of Return,” any Jewish person in the world is entitled to settle in Israel (a process known in Hebrew as aliyah, or “ascent“) and acquire Israeli citizenship. The law also applies to individuals who have at least one Jewish grandparent.zz
