 and an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has expressed strong opposition to US President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in other countries, referring to it as a “ticking time bomb.”){kind=link}
Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has expressed strong opposition to US President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in other countries, referring to it as a “ticking time bomb.”
Trump said last week he would make the war-battered territory “unbelievable” by removing unexploded bombs and rubble and redeveloping it.
He did not elaborate on how he would move more than 2 million Palestinians out of Gaza.
The US president announced his proposal on February 4 at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hailed it as “the first good idea that I’ve heard” on what to do with the tiny war-torn territory.
Bahçeli released a written statement over the weekend accusing Trump of “recklessly triggering political, economic and diplomatic crises from the moment he took office.”
He said the US president’s plan to “seize and take control of Gaza mafia-style is a ticking time bomb.”
The MHP leader called Trump’s proposal — according to which Gaza would be taken over from the Palestinians, who would be sent into exile in regional countries, primarily Egypt and Jordan, “the oppressive tyranny of imperialist looting.”
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” the US president also wrote on Truth Social on Thursday, reiterating that the plan would involve relocating Palestinians.
Trump said under his plan, Gazans “would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.”
Although his post did not make clear whether the 2 million residents of the Palestinian territory would be invited to return, his officials suggested later that any relocation would be only temporary.
Trump’s resettlement idea has prompted accusations that he is planning ethnic cleansing and has drawn condemnation from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders, according to a BBC report on February 6.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the plan “unacceptable” last week, while President Erdoğan, one of the most outspoken critics of Israeli actions in Gaza, said on Sunday that no one had the power to remove Gazans from their war-devastated homeland, dismissing Trump’s proposal.
Under international law, attempts to forcibly transfer populations from occupied territory are strictly prohibited.
Bahçeli’s statement came shortly after he was discharged from an Ankara hospital at the weekend where he underwent heart surgery last week amid speculation about his declining health.
In his recent statement, the MHP leader also provided information about his health and treatment, saying he is currently recovering.