Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the Muslim world can solve its problems only by itself and not with the help of foreigners, claiming that they only like the gold, oil and diamonds coming from the Islamic lands.
“I speak clearly. Those who come from outside [the Muslim world] only like the oil, gold, diamonds, cheap workforce, conflicts and disputes of the lands of Islam. Believe me, they do not like us,” Today’s Zaman quoted Erdogan as saying on Thursday while addressing the 30th meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Erdogan stressed that foreigners pretend to be the friends of the Muslim world and said: “They like seeing us, our children die. How long we will continue to tolerate this?”
The president called on the Muslim world to realize who the real winner and loser is in the conflicts. “Let’s move a step back and see the whole picture. Who is winning and who is losing out of these deaths and conflicts?” he asked.
Erdogan has criticized European countries claiming that they aim to legitimize the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“Those who stand against the IS may approach the PKK with sympathy. The ones who fight IS, and they should be doing so, why is it that you attempt to legitimize the PKK? We see such efforts in [some] European countries,” Erdogan said.
Turkey has been reluctant to join the US-led campaign that targets IS, drawing heavy criticism. However, in a major shift, Turkey has allowed the passage of Kurdish peshmerga forces to join fellow Kurds in the Syrian town of Kobane, which has been besieged by IS.
Turkey previously stated that it would not support any kind of weapons transfers to the Kurdish fighters who are allied with the PKK in Kobane.
The Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian branch of the outlawed PKK, has been fighting against IS militants in Kobane near the Turkish border. The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, Turkey and the European Union.
