Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at United Arab Emirates Deputy Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash, after the latter attacked the meddling of Turkey and Iran in the Arab world.
Gargash was calling for Arabs to rally behind a Saudi-Egyptian axis to confront the irredentism of Iran and Turkey.
“The sectarian and partisan approach is not an acceptable alternative. The Arab world will not be led by Tehran and Ankara,” Gargash declared.
Previously, UAE Foreign Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed, had posted a tweet accusing the Ottoman governor of Medina between 1916-1919, Fahreddin Pasha, of committing crimes against the local population. The tweet said that Fahreddin stole money and pillaged artifacts in the holy city, which is currently part of Saudi Arabia.
“These are Erdogan’s ancestors and their past with the Arabs,” the tweet said.
The row comes after a deal under which Turkey established a military camp in Mogadishu, where 200 Turkish officers will train about 10,000 Somalian soldiers.
Turkey’s military and economic expansionism in the Middle East and Somalia put it directly at loggerheads with the UAE.
Erdogan snaps back
“Certain impertinent people go as far as to accuse our ancestors of theft. What has spoiled this person? Oil has spoiled him, and the money that he has,” Erdogan said of bin Zayed.
The Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported that the government plans to rename the street outside the UAE embassy in Ankara after Fahreddin Pasha.
Turkey’s developing closer ties with Iran and Erdogan’s support of Qatar, in its clash with Saudi Arabia and its allies, have stirred consternation in the Arab world.
The UAE is also opposed to Ankara’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other forms of political Islam.
