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Fakhreddin Stirs Turkey-UAE Feud

Fakhreddin Stirs Turkey-UAE Feud

Friday, 22 December, 2017 - 08:00
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. File: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Crisis escalated between Turkey and UAE after UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan retweeted a tweet on his official Twitter account that accused Ottoman governor Fakhreddin Pasha of committing crimes against the local Arab population during his rule over Medina, Saudi Arabia.


The tweet indicated that Fakhreddin "committed a crime against the people of Medina by stealing their money, kidnapping them and putting them on trains that took them to Syria and Istanbul. Those are the ancestors of Erdogan and this is the history that they have with Arab Muslims."


Upon the retweet, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah saying: “Hey, the pathetic person who is slandering us: Where were your forefathers when Fakhreddin Pasha was defending Medina?"


Erdogan reiterated that Arab people are "our brothers" however, he added, "the enmity of some leaders in Arab countries is meant to hide their own incompetence and even treason.”


After that, Turkey summoned a senior UAE diplomat to complain about the tweet by an Emirati minister.


The Turkish foreign ministry summoned the Emirati charge d'affaires in Ankara on Thursday and complained about the post.


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