Roger Waters praises Erdoğan as a ‘lone voice against Palestinian genocide’

Roger Waters, co-founder of Pink Floyd, has praised President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, referring to him as a “lone voice in the West against the genocide of Palestinians.”

The praise followed Erdoğan’s social media post on Oct 7, marking the anniversary of the Gaza war. The post contained a video depicting fictional monuments and museums commemorating the “Gaza genocide” in 2040.

The video published by Erdoğan:

Bugün 7 Ekim… Tam 365 gün önce hayatta olan, çoğu çocuk ve kadın 50 bin kardeşimiz vahşice katledildi. Gazze’deki hastaneler, farklı inançlara ait ibadethaneler, okullar artık ayakta değil. Pek çok gazeteci, sivil toplum kuruluşu temsilcisi, barış elçisi artık aramızda değil.… pic.twitter.com/qX6uwlCFkA

— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) October 7, 2024

Waters and Greek left-wing politician Yanis Varoufakis both reposted Erdoğan’s video, prompting the president to thank them for their support.

Waters responded to Erdoğan today, saying, “No Sir, it is we who should thank you and the people of Turkey for standing as a lone voice in the West against the Genocide of our brothers and sisters in Palestine. The film you made is brilliant, compassionate, beautiful, and true and will be remembered in 2040. Thank you Turkey.”

Waters’ comments sparked mixed reactions on social media. While some welcomed his message, others criticized his praise for Erdoğan, highlighting Turkey’s treatment of Kurds and its ongoing trade relations with Israel despite vocal opposition to Israeli actions.

No Sir @RTErdogan, it is we who should thank you and the people of Turkey for standing as a lone voice in the West against the Genocide of our brothers and sisters in #Palestine, thank you.

The film you made is brilliant and compassionate and beautiful and true and will be… https://t.co/F2nkPoFkWS

— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) October 16, 2024

‘Covert trade’

Despite Turkey’s strong criticism of Israel during the Gaza war, the two countries have maintained significant trade relations with Turkey supplying Israel with steel used in the military industry and serving as a transit point for the transportation of the Azerbaijani oil to Israel.

In April, following domestic criticism, the Turkish government imposed restrictions on trade with Israel, and by May, all trade had reportedly been halted.

However, data suggests these sanctions may have been circumvented. According to figures from the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly, Turkey’s exports to Palestine increased by approximately 1,200% in July compared to the same month in 2023. In a year, steel exports to Palestine jumped by 51,000%, and cement exports rose by 453,000%.

It is widely believed that much of this trade is, in fact, with Israel, disguised as exports to Palestine, which lacks the infrastructure to use such large quantities of steel and cement.

(VK)