MEMRI is reporting on a massive anti-American and anti-Israel demonstration held over the weekend and sponsored by a Turkish youth organization that is part of Milli Gorus, a Turkish Islamist group with strong connections to the global Muslim Brotherhood. According to the report:
The Turkish Islamist websites Velfecr.com and Kudusyolu.com reported on a massive demonstration held March 22, 2008 by the Islamist Anatolia Youth Organization (AGD) of Milli Gorus and with support of other Islamist organizations, thousands of Turks chanted anti-American and anti-Israel slogans, sang jihadist songs, and pledged to follow the path of the shahid Ahmed Yassin of Hamas. The reports and speeches were translated from the Turkish by the Middle East Media Resource Institute (MEMRI). Demonstrators carried hundreds of Hamas and Hizbullah flags and posters, and pictures of the movements’ leaders. Some of the banners read, “Israel Will Be Destroyed,” “We Will Settle Accounts with the Murderer Israel,” “If Every Muslim Pours Out a Bucket of Water, Israel Drowns,” “Our Blood will Drown the Murderers,” “The Way of the shahids is Our Way,” “Defending Gaza Is Defending Istanbul,” “The Satans’ Meeting, Annapolis.” During the demonstration, an Israeli flag with “Death to Israel” on it was burned, and hateful speeches against Christian “Crusaders” and Jews, inciting the crowds to jihad, were delivered by Islamist activist Nureddin Sirin and by two Anatolia Youth Organization officials. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan headed the AGD prior to becoming Istanbul’s mayor.
The report also indicates that an Islamic activist made a speech to the crowd which blamed “the imperialists [E.U. and U.S.] and Zionists” for hindering Islamic unity and said the day was coming when “when the Zionist cancer virus, this tumor, will be eliminated.” Earlier posts have reported on the relationship of the German Muslim Brotherhood to Milli Gorus and on virulent anti-Semitic statements made by the Mill Gorus founder and leader.