(MEMRI) Tareq Alhomayed, editor of the daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), wrote on June 13 that if, in fact, Turkey was taking charge of the region's affairs, the Arabs had a list of urgent requests for the "returning sultan." Some of these requests, he said, were to resolve the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict; to spread secularism in Middle East, since the U.S. had failed to spread democracy; and to convince Iran to stop interfering with the countries of the region. He added, "I hope Turkey can teach Hamas what democracy is, and what regular changes of government are, and solves the problems in Lebanon." Alhomayed also expressed his hope that Turkey and Iran would stop attacking the Kurds in Iraq, saying, "the Kurds are also our flesh and blood, like the people of Gaza." Alhomayed concluded: "If Turkey fulfills half of these requests, we will proclaim it Sultan for another 500 years. The question is, what has Turkey done for us in the past 500 years?"
2010-06-18 09:17:27Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive