Erdogan addressed the opening of the Turkish Parliament on October 1 with a ringing declaration that “Jerusalem Has Been Our City For Thousands of Years.” The “our” in “our city” seemed to refer now to the Turks, and now to the “Palestinian people.” The story is here.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday implied that Jerusalem belongs to Turkey, referring to the Ottoman Empire’s control over the city for much of the modern era.
In this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So Jerusalem is our city, a city from us,” he told Turkish lawmakers during a major policy speech in Ankara. “Our first qibla [direction of prayer in Islam] al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem are the symbolic mosques of our faith. In addition, this city is home to the holy places of Christianity and Judaism.”
The Turks were the colonial masters of Jerusalem for 400 years, from 1516 to 1917, ruling over Muslim Arabs, Jews, and Christians too. If those 400 years of rule means that “Jerusalem is our [Turkish] city,” then what should we say about Istanbul, which as Constantinople was for more than a thousand years the richest and most important city in Christendom? Jerusalem has been lived in continuously by Jews for the last 3500 years; the archaeological evidence of that Jewish presence in the city has been found at thousands of sites – ancient synagogues, homes, tombstones, wine-presses, oil lamps, pottery – much of it with Hebrew inscriptions, with more such evidence being uncovered by archaeologists every year. Does President Erdogan expect the Western world to overlook all that? When Jerusalem was the first qibla, for just a few years before 624 A.D., when Muhammad replaced it with Mecca, Jews had already been living in Jerusalem for more than 2000 years.
The Ottoman Empire ruled over Jerusalem from 1516 to 1917. Modern Turkey, its successor state, has long stressed its enduring connection to the holy city, regularly condemning Israel’s alleged efforts to “judaize” it and the US administration’s December 2017 recognition of it as Israel’s capital. Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since the country’s founding, and the Jewish people have thousands of years of history in the city, backed up by extensive archaeological finds.
During a lengthy speech at the opening of the Turkish parliament’s new legislative session, Erdoğan spent several minutes lamenting the fate of Jerusalem and the Palestinians’ plight.
“Another crisis that our country and our nation carefully follow is the oppression of Israel against the Palestinians and the indifferent practices that disregard the privacy [sic] of Jerusalem,” he said toward the end of his address.
“The issue of Jerusalem is not an ordinary geopolitical problem for us. First of all, the current physical appearance of the Old City, which is the heart of Jerusalem, was built by Suleiman the Magnificent, with its walls, bazaar, and many buildings. Our ancestors showed their respect for centuries by keeping this city in high esteem.”
It was not Suleiman the Magnificent, but the Jews of Jerusalem who built much of the Old City, including the Jewish Quarter with its 37 synagogues, all but two of which were dynamited by the Jordanians between 1949 and 1967. It was not Suleiman the Magnificent who built the First or Second Temples, including the Western Wall that is all that remains of the latter, but the Jews. It was not Suleiman the Magnificent, nor any Turkish ruler, who established the venerable Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives that is 3,000 years old, and contains 150,000 Jewish graves. Suleiman did build the current walls of the Old City, and many of its gates, from 1535 to 1542, but what is within those walls was built by Jews – cisterns, aqueducts, mikvahs — as well as by Turks. Christians, too, built important sites, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335 A.D., the Tomb of the Virgin Mary, the Cenacle, and many other buildings of note in Jerusalem. These have made little impression on Erdogan. After discussing the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other Muslim sites, Erdogan says, in his sole reference to a non-Muslim presence in Jerusalem, that “ In addition, this city is home to the holy places of Christianity and Judaism.”
The Palestinian people have been living in Jerusalem “for thousands of years,” but they were occupied and had their rights violated, the Turkish leader went on.
If the “Palestinian people” have been living in Jerusalem “for thousands of years,” where is there a single scrap of archeological evidence of their presence? Any sign of a distinctively “Palestinian” home or house of worship, or pottery shards, or coins, or mosaics, or glassware, or oil lamps, or scraps of writing? And what was the language of those “Palestinians” for those thousands of years before the Arabs, and their language, arrived? What was the religion of those “Palestinians” who have in Erdogan’s fantastical tale been living in Jerusalem for “thousands of years”? It couldn’t have been Islam, which only began in Mecca with Muhammad being visited by the angel Gabriel in about 610 A.D., and then preaching this new faith starting in 613 A.D. We need Erdogan to tell us what religion they had before the mid-7th century, what language they spoke, and why there is no physical evidence of their existence, though there are thousands of Jewish sites and artifacts that attest to the presence of the Jewish people, the Jewish religion, the Hebrew language, in Jerusalem.
And when were the “Palestinian people” in Jerusalem “occupied”? Has it only been since the modern state of Israel took possession of the Old City after the Six-Day War? Weren’t the “Palestinian people” in Jerusalem also “occupied” by the Turks, from 1516 to 1917? Or don’t the Turks count as “occupiers,” because they are fellow Muslims? A great many Arabs, still resenting how the Ottoman Turks mistreated their ancestors for centuries, would beg to differ.
Some of us might want to bring up another embarrassing fact about those “Palestinians.” Why are the “Palestinian people” nowhere mentioned by any of the Muslim chroniclers and travelers? Why do we find no mention of them in the extensive state records of the Ottoman rulers and administrators of the Empire, who held Jerusalem from 1516 to 1917?
And let’s bring the story of the “Palestinian people” up to date. Why do none of the Arab – or Turkish — rulers, diplomats, writers, and journalists ever mention the “Palestinian people” until after the Six-Day War, when it became important for the Arabs, having failed militarily, to wage a propaganda campaign against Israel that would force the Jewish state to be squeezed back within the 1949 armistice lines? With the help of Soviet advisors, the Arabs began a campaign that focused on this newly invented “Palestinian people.” Only thus could the Arab gang-up on Israel be presented to the world as a conflict “between two tiny peoples, each struggling for its homeland.”
At this point it is de rigueur to quote Zuheir Mohsen, the “Palestinian” leader of the terror group As Saiqa, and I won’t break with tradition. In an interview he gave to the Dutch newspaper Trouw in 1970, Mohsen declared what should be an obvious truth: “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism.”
Tayyip, the favor of your reply is requested.
mortimer says
Erdogan wants us to understand that Jerusalem was owned by Muslims previous to the Roman conquest 600 years before Islam!
However, Islam did not exist per se until after Mohammed. Even in the time of Mohammed, Islam (the word was not used). They called themselves ‘The Believers’.
Erdogan’s presumptuous claims are no more that pure mythology. Erdogan lives in a fantasy world.
curious george says
Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD
Psalm 135:21
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Psalm 137:5
The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
Psalm 147:2
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaish 2:3
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
Zechariah 12:2-3
Jayell says
“However, Islam did not exist per se until after Mohammed.
Absolutely correct, but isn’t it more accurate to say that islam didn’t exist AT ALL before it was invented by Mohammed & Co? Erdogan’s claims simply fit with the rest of the islamic narrative – one makes it up as ones goes along according to the wilfully ignorant whims of one’s intellectually-bankrupt egocentric agenda.
mortimer says
The first example of ‘Palestinian’ referring to Arab peasants was in the preface of a 1898 geography book by Ukrainian theology professor, Akim (Ioakim) Alekseyevitch Olesnitskiy; it was translated into Arabic by Lebanese writer Khalil Beidas (born of Lebanese immigrant parents in 1874 in Nazareth, Sanjak of Akka, Ottoman Villayet (Province) of Syria). The translator, Beidas, is the first to put this new nationality in print in Arabic. Khalil Beidas was a writer who encouraged the use of the neologism ‘Palestinian’ in reference to recent migrants to the Holy Land.
Chrissie01 says
yes, yes, the Turks. An amazing people. On a mediterranean coast holiday in Turkey, much to my great wonder, I learnt that Homer was an “Anatolian writer” and – in fact and without the trace of a doubt – a great Turkish historical personality.
I learnt that the great poems of “Ilyas” and “Ulysses” were Anatolian, i.e. Turkish productions. Never mind the wonderful and ingenious Greek hexameters of the accounts. Never mind, the entire stretch of land was stolen from the Greeks and the Greeks subjugated or dislodged.
Being German, I learnt – to my even greater wonder – that the Turk rebuilt my country after WWII. I learnt that it were the world-famous Turkish engineers and builders helped the backward Germans to set up their industries again, as Germans are known to be too lazy.
What I remember, however – in gross contrast to that narrative – was that Turks swamped Germany at the beginning of 1963. Hardly able to read or write, they pushed the wheelbarrows on the construction sites and all – within short – had shining gold teeth in their mouth, when they found out how the generous German health care system worked (that only was functional on the grounds of people’s decency not to claim what was not justified, and the members’ sense of solidarity).
Yes, yes. The giants of their dreams and the dwarfs of their realities.
craig says
That’s the Turks for you. Muslim nations have to claim others accomplishments because they have none of their own. (Africans are the same way. They’ll tell you that the Romans were African in origin and that all great inventions throughout history were stolen from them) Turks have to insist that they are indigenous to Anatolia, because otherwise they are admitting that they have displaced older more superior civilizations.
gravenimage says
Hilarious, Chrissie.
FYI says
Never ,ever,forget that this wannabe neo-ottoman emperor Erdolf was once publically humiliated,beaten up and kicked in the balls by….a HORSE.
{You can see it on You Tube if you type in ..erdogan horse}
You know what gives Erdolf nightmares?
The sound of a neighing horse.Or somebody mischievously going ‘clippety clop,clippety clop.Who’s your daddy?’
To be beaten up and kicked in the balls by a man would be bad enough: but by a HORSE?
That is just so embarrassing for him..
owensgate says
I searched for it (use “startpage.com”, never use google) this is the link I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKPRvMV2SL8 Funniest thing I’ve seen this week. But more interresting was the sidebar that popped up on the startpage search; a pic of ol’ Recip saying he was the 12th President of Turkey. Perhaps he thinks he is the 12th “Imam”?
Jedothek says
The problem of Muslims lying ( and saying delusional things ) about the past is exacerbated by the presence of many useful idiots in the west who believe anything said by a member of a group that is said to be oppressed.
gravenimage says
Sadly true.
Chrissie01 says
I am your fan, Erdo, honestly.
Thousands of years, when your entire ideological vehicle has existed for only 1400 years?
You should put a red nose on, so we can know the kind of theatrical performance you are attempting.
Here again, the reply Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman when he asked them to submit, for your entertainment:
Zaporozhian Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan!
O sultan, Turkish devil and damned devil’s kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? The devil shits, and your army eats. Thou shalt not, thou son of a whore, make subjects of Christian sons; we have no fear of your army, by land and by sea we will battle with thee, fuck thy mother.
Thou Babylonian scullion, Macedonian wheelwright, brewer of Jerusalem, goat-fucker of Alexandria, swineherd of Greater and Lesser Egypt, pig of Armenia, Podolian thief, catamite of Tartary, hangman of Kamyanets, and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our dick. Pig’s snout, mare’s arse, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow, screw thine own mother!
So the Zaporozhians declare, you lowlife. You won’t even be herding pigs for the Christians. Now we’ll conclude, for we don’t know the date and don’t own a calendar; the moon’s in the sky, the year with the Lord, the day’s the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our arse!
— Koshovyi otaman Ivan Sirko, with the whole Zaporozhian Host
Dude says
So if Kuwait rolls their tanks into Mecca, does it then belong to them for the next trillion years?
Walter Sieruk says
Erdogan by his fool statement has exposed his onw ignorance . In other words , he should just how little he actually knows about the history of Jerusalem as well as how his is ignorant of the Bible .
As the Bible informs its readers “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem … the Lord will be the hope of His people ,and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3:16.
Wellington says
Erdogan is a menace. And he’s getting worse by the year.
James Lincoln says
Yes, Wellington.
And to think that he is a leader of a country that is part of NATO is beyond belief…
Chrissie01 says
yes, scary.
It is due to the great strategic location of his country between Europe and Asia.
The US forced Germany to accept in Turkish workers in exchange for US/NATO military bases in Turkey.
It is always nice to have others pay your dues…
At first, these Turks were granted only two-year contracts (without family), then someone thought this was inhumane and they should be able to bring family.
Then they swamped Germany.
Now we have them by the millions and about half of them are on welfare, the youngsters suck at German schools and many drop out, for they can’t handle German school standards…
But they impressively make up for all of this with a great amount of so-called pride and swagger…
Mafya says
At the same time Evildogan’s targeting of Armenia with jihadis and the silence and abandonment of the West & Russia are frightening. Soon evil Turkish could commit another horrible genocide of Armenians and other opponents because Erdopig has been so condoned by the western countries. I can’t imagine what horrible things he’ll do in 2023 as Turdogan always points out that year, he might bring back the Ottoman Satanate.
Boycott Turkey says
Mafya It’s very sad Armenians are being abandoned just like the Kurds where by the West and Russia Turkey is committing a other genocide on Armenians using Azerbaijan as a proxy I hate Turdogan so much his Hitler if it weren’t for France he would have invaded Greece and Cyprus to he didn’t and now turned to Armenia his very evil and blood thirsty he needs to be stoped somehow it’s not looking good for Armenia at the moment Azerbaijan military are shelling innocent civilians they want to ethnicity cleanse Nagorna Karabakh of Armenians who have lived there for thousands of years Armenian is only 3 million population and Azerbaijan 30 million I think I’m not sure exactly and they sending in jihadist from Syria
GreekEmpress says
Mafya and Boycott Turkey,
+1000 ‼️‼️‼️
Mafya says
I aggre with you, Boycott Turkey. Turdogan is just as dangerous as Hitler was. I think he could kill millions of people like Hitler and Ismail Enver did. According to wikipedia Azerbaijan’s population is about 10 millions while Armenia’s is not more than 3 millions. And Turkey’s is 83 and Iran’s is 83 millions too. I tought at some point Iran was an ally of Armenia but I was wrong. They too are supporting their Shia Islamic and Turkic “brothers”. I am so sad for Armenia they don’t have a neighbouring ally country. We live in a world of clowns indeed which, countries like Turkey have many allies and supporters even though their genocidal and invader actions. As you wrote I am glad that France is not bowing to Turkey. I think France should military interfere to help Armenia. If Armenia falls I am afraid there will be another horrible genocide of Armenians and next could be Cyprus and Greece.
Boycott Turkey says
True Mayfa I also thought Iran was a ally to Armenia but it doesn’t really surprise me that they are not I don’t know how this is going to end hopefully there’s a ceasefire I pray Armenian don’t fall but they don’t have any allies and Azerbaijan has Turkey. They want a genocide of Armenians and the world ignores it. Maybe France might do something his condemmed Erdogan I just pray for a miracle
gravenimage says
Iran was never really an ally of Armenia’s–they just hate Sunni Muslims.
jewdog says
October 31st, 9 PM in Jerusalem:
Ding Dong.
“Oh look, it’s the Ottoman Vampire. How cute.”
“Trick or Treat, infidels, or I take back Jerusalem!”
“Here, have a Kit Kat bar.”
The Vampire walks off to the next house…
R Russell says
Looks like Bible prophecy is getting closer, when Turkey, Iran and Russia + their allies will go to war with Israel, possibly to take charge of their oil and/or gas
gravenimage says
Israel doesn’t have much in the way of deposits of oil and gas–they have achieved all they have done without them.
R Russell says
YHWH God has been with Israel making them prosperous. In return, Israel was to bless the nations. When we look at what Israel has given to the world – we see how this has also come to pass.
Israel is right now constructing a gas pipeline to Cyprus, Greece and Italy so Europe can buy it instead of being dependent on Russia.
Haifa is one place for natural gas and there are large oilfields in the Golan.
There is also oil near Haifa.
It is interesting to observe that Asher, Jacob’s son, his descendants settled in that area and Deuteronomy 33:25 tells us ‘Asher shall dip his foot in oil’. It is interesting to look at the shape of the area given to Asher. It looks like a leg with its foot in the sea (where the oil is)
john smith says
Erdogan is on the warpath, and he is trying to get the people behind him. If he intends to re-establish the Ottoman Empire, he is going to after to make his move and invade some countries, and I believe he will do this under the guise of a peacekeeper.
JackCade says
Erdogan is a megalomaniac who believes he is the caliph. He is too dangerous to be allowed to govern, er, rule Turki.
DavidR says
This is about as good as it gets, as far as “elected” Muslim rulers go.
gravenimage says
Erdogan has been in power in Turkey as either president or prime minister since 2003–we are edging into despot territory here.
somehistory says
This ugly, evil moslim creep has just been eating too much spitting camel bologna.
Jesus Christ said, “Out the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” “Wicked reasonings”, lies, deception…everything evil comes forth from this moslims evil heart, out through his lying mouth.
Repeating a lie does not turn it into Truth. Jerusalem has never belonged to the moslims or to islam. The theft, the invasion, the genocide against the legal, rightful residents does not convey ownership.
King-Priest, Melchizedek ruled in the city of Salem in the time of Abraham and gave God’s blessing to him. This was the origin of the city of Jerusalem, which city God gave to the Jews in the time of David.
The lies of this arrogant moslim will not change that, cannot change that. It is history. As a person who puts videos on line writes, “done and dusted.” The history of the city is done and dusted from the many centuries since it became fact.
James Lincoln says
somehistory says,
“Repeating a lie does not turn it into Truth.”
100% true.
That being said, some people will eventually believe the lie even though it still remains a lie…
somehistory says
Sadly, James, you are correct.
There was a program I watched some years ago. In this program, those producing the show, had some “insiders” who were programmed to lie.
The participants all were in a room where a professor was asking questions. The “insider” answered the question with an untrue statements. The professor agreed that the response was correct. No one challenged the answer, although several people in the room were looking around to see if someone would stand up and say the response was wrong.
In another room, the students were given a paper test to take, and at some point, smoke began to pour in under the door. Although a couple of people noticed the smoke, no one stood up and said there was a fire…because the professor and those insiders just ignored the smoke, which was obvious.
It goes along with the idea of group think.
And of course, in the case of moslims, they always believe the lies told by persons such as er dog an. ..because they want to believe it and they have bee programmed to believe the lies that favor islam.
moslims lie so much, it is a wonder if they ever recognize any truth. Perhaps only those few who wish to leave the death-dealing cult recognize Truth.
James Lincoln says
somehistory,
Your reference psychology experiments are “spot on”.
My undergraduate degree major is in psychology and some of my class projects involved very similar experiments.
Absolutely fascinating…
somehistory says
T hank you, James.
I have enjoyed watching and reading such things as long as I can recall. I only took one course in the subject, but found it very interesting.
The professor had us analyze movies and use them to explain behavior.
One of the most disturbing experiments was thee one using children who had been warned by their parents about ‘stranger danger’ and the way the child could be manipulated into doing exactly opposite of their parent’s instructions.
Thank you for your feedback.
Eye op manana.
somehistory says
Correction to my former comment.
I took two other courses that could be listed as psychology courses, Criminal Profiling and Geographic Profiling, taught by a Dr. of Psychology and former Special Agent with the FBI.
Anyone trying to understand the mind of a terrorist can make use of these courses even if not used professionally.
roberta says
Soooo, what is stopping him from taking Jerusalem? What could he be scared of? Israel is just a tiny little country, surely he can just roll in and take Jerusalem.
Cant imagine what is stopping the big man. Go for it already.
gravenimage says
Hilarious!
SAFI says
Maybe it’s because he doesn’t want to get nuked… He may like to talk tough and act like a mad dog for the cameras but I suspect deep down Erdolf is a very sensible and prudent mafioso…
gravenimage says
Erdogan: ‘Jerusalem Has Been Our City For Thousands of Years’
………….
More saber-rattling from the would be new Caliph.
Never mind that the Arab Muslims *hated* being under the Ottoman heel, and fought against them as soon as they showed signs of weakness a hundred years ago. Not even these Mohammedans would welcome a new Ottoman Caliphate.
Clifford Fodor says
“Erdogan: ‘Jerusalem Has Been Our City For Thousands of Years’”
It ain’t no more.
gravenimage says
🙂
Ren says
Erdogan: ‘Jerusalem Has Been Stolen by Muslims For Thousands of Years’
OLD GUY says
Erdogan believes if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth. Islam is a Johnny come lately religion, and calling it a religion is stretching the truth about this cult. Islam is a dictatorship using a violent and murderous rule to control people, and maintain control and power by its leaders. Erdogan is a copy of Hitler with the same ideological plan for ruling the world.