Billboards in Cairo to welcome Erdogan by AymanM from yfrog on Twitter
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's speech about the Palestinian bid for a statehood at the Arab League was translated online live by members of social networking sites, namely Twitter, for those who did not speak Arabic or Turkish. The response to his speech which was filled with more cliches than substance was diverse, from those who believed Turkey's stance was justifiable, to those who were dismayed at the level of hypocrisy shown by Turkey towards Kurds struggling for autonomy.
Here are some of the sound bytes from Erdogan's speech:
@RawyaRageh #Erdogan: #Israel must respect human rights, act like any other state to end its isolation #Turkey #ArabLeague
@MahirZeynalov Turkish PM Erdogan: Let the flag of Palestinian state to be the symbol of peace in the Middle East.
@MahirZeynalov Turkish PM Erdogan: Recognition of Palestinian state is the only right path, it is not a choice but an obligation.
@MahirZeynalov Turkish PM Erdogan: Every state must pay for their terror acts, referring to Israel.
Tweeps were quick to point out the treatment of Kurds in Turkey, and recent events while Erdogan was giving a speech. Here is a selection of reactions:
@Hevallo #Erdogan: If Palestine with a population of 4 million deserve a state, how about Kurds with a population of 40 million? #ArabLeague #Egypt
@khaledfahmy Turkey killings trigger Kurdish protest….Let Erdogan watch this video:
@fatmaemam that what will happen if you are Kurdish & decided to celebrate your culture in #Turkey http://bit.ly/nKaMVF #kurdishrights
@fatmaemam Turkey is a ultra nationalist state where cultural minorities like the Kurds are harshly suppressed #turkey #erdogan
@MiranHosny For the life of me I cannot fathom why someone w/ such strong ideas on Israel could order his own Human Rights violations on #Kurds #Erdogan
@norashalaby #ArabLeague is one of the most useless organizations that still exist for some reason
@M_Magdeldin #Arableague is malfunctioned, It reminds me of the dictatorships in the arab world with no hope to fix from within, It should be dissolved.
@AbirKopty Maybe #Erdogan & others didn't get yet that the new generation of Arabs is not naive. We know that behind nice words there are interests.
@Remziya While #Erdogan tramps thru the Arab World denouncing #Israel #Kurds continue 2 b slaughtered n #Turkey! Hypocrisy at it's finest.
