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Youth activists oppose Turkey's trade with Israel

2024-11-12 19:21:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A group of young activists in Turkey, known as '1000 Youth for Palestine', are mounting a rare and powerful challenge to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, using social media to expose Turkey's trade with Israel. President Erdogan has publicly stated that he has imposed a strict embargo on trade with Israel, due to the war in Gaza. As Voice of America correspondent Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the message of this group of young people transcends Turkey's deep political, social and religious divisions.

The most recent protest in Istanbul by the organization '1000 Young People for Palestine' was about the killing by Israeli security forces of the Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

But in addition to criticizing Israel, the demonstrators also criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for continuing Turkey's trade with Israel.

"I am here to force the Turkish government to stop the oil trade with Israel and to stop the genocide. This is not only a public demand. It is also a legal obligation for Turkey to stop the genocide," says Gulsum, an activist with the organization " 1000 Young People for Palestine".

This student-run group has, since the beginning of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, criticized the export of oil from Azerbaijan to Israel through a Turkish port. Activists are also protesting Turkish companies' continued trade ties with Israel, despite the embargo that is officially in place.

The group uses social media to broadcast its message, bypassing government-controlled media.

Activists say their campaign has been strengthened by the diversity of their group.

"When it comes to Palestine, it's a story that unites us all. So we're a group that can easily agree on what we can do about this issue. There are those who define themselves as socialists and those who define themselves as Islamists. There are also apolitical young people who say: 'I don't like politics', but they still join us," says student Gizem, an activist with the group "1000 Young People for Palestine".

The police opposed the protests. A live broadcast on the state television channel, where Israel was discussed, was interrupted by activists of this group. A Palestinian activist was subsequently arrested and now faces the risk of deportation.

The incident sparked further protests.

Arresting protesters who are Islamists, analysts say, is likely to embarrass President Erdogan and alienate his religious supporters.

Analysts accuse President Erdogan of exploiting deep divisions between secular and religious Turks and say the group's diversity poses a problem for him.

"Such hybrid groups are coming together, because of a cause, either from an ideological point of view or on the other hand, social, class; they can be very different and this is something threatening for the government," says Sezin Oney, a commentator on the portal of "PolitikYol" news.

President Erdogan suffered heavy losses in the last local elections; losses widely blamed on the poor economy, but also on anger over Turkey's trade with Israel.

Activists say they hope to capitalize on this.

"The reason for our success is that we are touching the right topic. We are exposing the hypocrisy, we are exposing the hypocrisy of capitalists, corporations and the government", says the activist Murat.

As analysts see, the diversity of this group undoubtedly constitutes a challenge for President Erdogan and one that will not pass as long as the war in Gaza - and Turkey's engagement with Israel - will continue./ VOA