In meeting with Arab MKs, Erdogan reportedly vows to release 3 arrested Israelis
Turkish president delays legal proceedings against Israeli Arab trio who sought to undergo illegal kidney transplants; says will ‘share all means’ to support Palestinian cause
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday reportedly told a delegation of Arab Israeli lawmakers that he would release three Israeli citizens arrested last month in Istanbul, and ordered the delay of legal proceedings against them.
The Arab Israeli citizens were detained two weeks ago after requesting to undergo kidney transplants in violation of local laws.
According to the Walla news site, Erdogan told the delegation — led by Ta’al chairman Ahmad Tibi and including Islamic Movement members Taleb Abu Arar, Masud Ganaim and Osama Saadi — that he would release the detained Israelis and even direct Turkish authorities to assist them with the kidney transplant procedures.
The report did not clarify how the Israelis had initially violated Turkish law.
Ahead of the meeting, the Arab-Israeli MKs said they would also discuss with Erdogan “the attack on the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Judaization of Jerusalem, scholarships for Arab Israeli students in Turkey, and economic-cultural cooperation with Arab society [in Israel].”
According to Turkey’s pro-government Daily Sabah, the Turkish premier vowed that Ankara would “continue to share all means in our disposal with our brothers” in order to help the Palestinian cause.
Erdogan thanked the lawmakers for their stance against the Israeli government on Gaza and the nation-state law, which critics have said discriminates against Israel’s non-Jewish minorities, particularly Arabs and Druze.
ארדואן הורה להשהות את כל הצעדים המשפטיים נגד 3 ערבים ישראלים שנעצרו בטורקיה לאחר שביקשו לעבור ניתוח להשתלת כליה, תוך הפרת החוק המקומי. בפגישתו עם חברי הכנסת, טיבי, אבו עראר ור'נאיים, הבטיח ארדואן לסגור את התיקים נגד החשודים ושיורה לרשויות לסייע להם @eran_singer pic.twitter.com/duSSthp6FT
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 2, 2019
The nation-state bill, which for the first time enshrined Israel as “the national home of the Jewish people” and determined “the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people,” sparked widespread criticism from Israel’s minorities, the international community, and Jewish groups abroad.
While Erdogan regularly criticizes the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he has long found common cause with Arab Israeli lawmakers.
In 2015, the Turkish president met with Joint (Arab) List members and assured them that Ankara was “confronting conspiracies against al-Aqsa” by the Israeli government.
Five members of the Joint List, including Ahmad Tibi, Jamal Zahalka, Basel Ghattas, Taleb Abu Arar and Osama Sa’adi, met with Erdogan at the presidential palace in Istanbul to discuss tensions over the Temple Mount.
חברי כנסת מהרשימה המשותפת נפגשו עם ארדואן במעונו באיסטנבול. pic.twitter.com/icMLXSkiDZ
— |فرات نصار|פוראת נסאר|FURAT NASSAR (@nassar_furat) February 2, 2019
Last month, Tibi announced that his Arab Movement for Renewal party (Ta’al) would sever ties with the Joint List alliance. It remains unclear if the longtime MK’s faction will run in the April elections together with the Ra’am party as it has in the past. The latter party includes a collection of Islamic Movement members who accompanied Tibi on Saturday’s trip to Istanbul.
The Joint List was formed in January 2015 after the Knesset raised the electoral threshold, increasing the percentage of votes a party must win to earn a seat in the 120-seat parliament from 2 to 3.25 percent.
The Joint List, a coalition of communists, Palestinian nationalists, religious Muslims and feminists, won 13 seats in the March 2015 Knesset elections, becoming one of the largest factions in the opposition.