A sister city agreement signed between Turkey’s popular holiday resort of Antalya and the Israeli coastal city of Bat Yam in 1997 has been canceled by the Turkish side in protest of the ongoing Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, the Birgün daily reported.The decision was made by the city council of the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) during its meeting on Monday. The council, comprising members from various political parties, voted unanimously to cancel the agreement dated November 26, 1997.A statement from the municipality said all current and future relations with the Bat Yam have been halted due to the “ongoing inhumane attacks by Israel on the people of Gaza before the eyes of the world.”The mayor of Antalya thanked the members of the city council for their decision.
Don't worry. Antalya still has a sister city relationship with many towns in those paragons of human rights China (Haikou, Kunming, Liwan, Qingdao, Ürümqi, Xining) and Russia (Kazan, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, Vladimir.)
Five towns in Turkey have twinned with Gaza City, one with Rafah, three with Beit Hanoun, one with Beit Lahiya, and one with Deir al Balah, all in Gaza. The Hamas control of those cities didn't offend anyone in Turkey. No one thought that October 7 and the Palestinian support for murdering Jews should shake their relationship.
Indeed, the world has not and will never cancel sister city relationships with Palestinian cities like Jenin, Ramallah or Hebron despite Palestinian terror and widespread support for terror. Even bringing up the possibility would result in death threats. Who needs the hassle?
But symbolic moves against Israel are risk-free and makes one popular among genteel antisemites.
Those who engage in virtue signaling are never virtuous.
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