- Palestine
- April 17, 2010
- 2 minutes read
Islamic University awards Turkish premier honorary doctorate
Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was awarded the title of honorary doctorate by the Islamic University in Gaza during a ceremony held in Ankara on Friday.
Erdogan said in a statement at the ceremony that the Islamic University has been working under very harsh conditions for the past 32 years.
He said that he received many honorary doctorates from various world universities but this one from the Islamic University had a different meaning.
The premier said, “Turkey has historical and friendly ties with Palestine for a long time, we have always shared grief and joy of Palestinian people throughout our history. But our current interest in Gaza stems totally from humanitarian reasons beyond our historical ties with Palestine. On every possible occasion, we are telling the world that innocent civilians and children should not be killed, schools and hospital should not be bombed. We raise our voice for children n Gaza, Haiti, Chile and China.”
Erdogan championed unity of Palestinians in order to contribute in ending their suffering, adding that Turkey would continue its efforts for peace in Palestine.
The doctorate was handed by MP Dr. Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the Board of Trustees in the University, and Dr. Kamalin Shaath, the rector of the university.
Shaath said that the University decided to award the doctorate title to Erdogan for his meritorious efforts to put an end to the atrocity against the Palestinian people in Gaza.