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Turkish culture popular among Gaza Palestinians

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's support for Palestine, in particular Gaza, has prompted strong interest in Turkish culture among Gazans.
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The deadly raid by the Israeli navy on May 31, 2010, against the Mavi Marmara marked the beginning of a push by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to support an end to the Israeli blockade against the Gaza Strip. His stance led to a widespread belief among Gazans that their savior might arrive in the form of a Turkish man. Soon after, "Turkmania" swept the Gazan street. To this day, Palestinians in Gaza remain captivated by Turkish culture.

Relations between the Turkish and Palestinian peoples go back centuries, with Palestine for a time being part of the Ottoman rule. According to Hani Agha, director of the Turkish Yardim Eli (Helping Hand) Foundation, which is active in Gaza, relations were reinvigorated by Erdogan's public stance on Israeli policy toward Gaza, when the prime minister put Israeli President Shimon Peres in an awkward position at the Davos economic summit in January 2009, accusing him of killing Palestinian children in Gaza. Erdogan's popularity skyrocketed among Gazans, some of whom named newborns after him.

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