The fourth-generation grandson of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II has responded to US President Donald Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into neighbouring countries by saying that the enclave and Palestine as a whole belonged to his late grandfather.
“Trump says he will buy Gaza, but from whom will he buy it? The Gaza he is talking about is the private property of my grandfather, Sultan Abdul Hamid,” said Abdulhamid Kayihan Osmanoglu in a video clip that has gone viral on social media.
Turkish media outlets said Osmanoglu made his comment during a ceremony honouring the Sultan on the 107th anniversary of his death.
“When we go to the oppressed lands today, whether it is Syria, Palestine or Gaza, they talk about Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan,” said Osmanoglu at the event. “Today America says: We will take Gaza. Wait a minute, my friend, what are you taking? When you talk about Gaza today, it is the registered personal property of Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan. Your strength is not enough. You have been bombing it for a year, but our brothers there are still standing firm. We stand by Palestine, Gaza and every oppressed brother in the world.”
