THOUSANDS OF TURKISH ACTIVISTS UNITED FOR MASJID AL-AQSA AND MAVI MARMARA
Istanbul, 29 Rajab 1434/ 8 Juni 2013 (MINA) – Tens of thousands of people from across Turkey attended the commemoration ceremony program was held at Fatih Mosque in İstanbul on the occasion of the third anniversary of Israel’s attack on Mavi Marmara ship, which set out to take humanitarian aid to Gaza.
During the program, which began with Quran recitation, Atallah Abu Al-Sabah, Palestinian Minister for Prisoner Affairs, said they are very pleased with Turkey’s taking a side with Palestinian resistance.
“The blood of nine martyrs who were killed on Mavi Marmara on their way to Palestine has mingled with our blood,” he said, adding “Your divine attitude shows that Israel will be exterminated.”
“Those who will make those lands free again are those who follow the path of Sultan Fatih [the Conqueror],” al-Sabah added.
Al-Sabah also noted that Turkey’s sensitivity about Palestine has broken Israel’s strength in the region. “All the Palestinian lands are the lands of Islam and those will make those lands free again are those who follow the path of Sultan Fatih and Selahaddin Ayyubi. “We will erect flag of freedom in Masjid al-Aqsa,” he added
President Bülent Yıldırım, who also spoke at the ceremony, described the Mavi Marmara incident as the “beginning of Israel’s end” and said Mavi Marmara will continue to defend its cause from land until the blockade on Gaza is lifted and until the Israeli military officers, who had been involved in the attack, are arrested. He said Mavi Marmara will then sail into the Mediterranean again.
Yıldırım also said hearts of tens of thousands of people who took part in the march beat together with the hearts of the Muslims in Palestine, Afghanistan, Moro, Kashmir, Pattani, Arakan, Chechnia, East Turkistan and all across the world.
“We resisted in Egypt, we resisted in Tunisia, we have been resisting in Syria. We will continue to resist everywhere. In the end, we will erect the flag of freedom in Masjid al-Aqsa,” he added.
Following the commemoration ceremony, tens of thousands of people who got out of the Fatih Mosque marched from the mosque to Edirnekapı neighborhood where two Mavi Marmara martyrs, Cevdet Kılıçlar and Necdet Yıldırım, are buried.
The crowd walked from the Fevzipaşa Street, which was partially closed to traffic, under security measures taken by the riot police teams. They chanted slogans saying, “May Palestinian resistance live long,” “Mavi Marmara is our honor,” “Muslims, don’t sleep, stand behind your brothers.”
The demonstrators also carried banners which read, “Masjid al-Aqsa is our honor,” “We will not give up from our cause,” Insani Yardim Vakfi reported monitored by MINA (Mi’raj News Agency)
The march ended at Edirnekapı Cemetery where prayers were made and verses from the Quran were recited for Yıldırım and Kılıçlar. The crowd dispersed peacefully after the prayers.
People from across different provinces in the country such as Ankara, İzmir, Sakarya, Balıkesir, Gaziantep, Adıyaman and Şanlıurfa came to İstanbul on 120 buses in order to commemorate victims of the Mavi Marmara attack.
Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ)
Meanwhile Chairman of the movement Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ), Dr. Ribhi Halloum said mode GMJ, “GMJ could organize mode than 86 demonstrations on the same time and date in 86 capitals and cities in the six continents. Hundreds of thousands of participants from all the continents attended the marches,” he said.
“It was successful. It was similar to the last year one. I have in mind to organize a very important event through joined discussion with our brothers in Indonesia and Malaysia,” he said.
“I will discuss the details with our brother Imaam Muhyiddin Hamidy (Mandatary Conference Liberation of Al-Aqsa and Palestine) as soon I will be able to meet him. I am thinking to organize an Intercontinental council for defending Al-Quds and Palestine. Indonesia will be the cornerstone of it in Asia,” he said.
“I will discuss the details as soon as I meet with brother Imaam Hamidy,” he added. (L/P06/P04/P02)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
