Turkey's PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has received a hero's welcome on his return to Istanbul after he stormed out of a debate about Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Erdogan was having a heated debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres because of the latter's declarations concerning Israel's attack on Gaza. Thousands of people flocked to greet Mr Erdogan's plane. They carried Turkish and Palestinian flags as well as pro-Erdogan and anti-Israeli banners. "I'm not a retired diplomat, nor am I speaking as retired diplomats because I came to this position from the bottom-line of politics. Some people are still not aware of Turkey's strength, but we do not act in the light of what others are saying. We will continue in our position defending Turkey, and this is what it's worth for our people" Mr. Erdogan said, adding that a prime minister must defend his country's dignity.
For its part, Hamas has hailed Erdogan's "brave" position, saying that his withdrawal from the meeting room was a "victory" for the victims of Gaza. On the other hand, the Israeli presidency has categorically denied that Peres apologized to the Turkish prime minister. The Israeli presidential spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch said that Peres had contacted Erdogan and that the latter had stressed that what he had done was not against Peres, but against the president of the meeting, who prevented him from talking.
On the other hand, a number of Egyptian independent MPs decided to go to the Turkish Embassy in Cairo to send a message of greetings and appreciation to Erdogan. Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, MP Mohamed Abdel Alim said Erdogan's position reflected the pulse of the Arab and Muslim street, which had not been expressed by the Arab rulers either during or after the crisis. Abdel Alim condemned the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa's stance, who attended the same meeting in Davos without taking a position similar to Erdogan's. Abdel Alim, who had previously filed a quest for notification in the parliament over the exportation of natural gas to Israel, stressed that the Turkish position had outdone Arabs' attitudes, which have proved their weakness during the crisis.
