Turkey’s leader slams UAE over ‘forefathers’ retweet

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s president is railing against the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister, who retweeted a post that accused the Turkish leader’s Ottoman “forefathers” of mistreating Arabs and stealing manuscripts from the holy city of Medina.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called on UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan to “know (his) place!” without naming him directly.

Erdogan said the Ottoman Pasha who governed Medina between 1916 and 1919 was protecting the holy city and its treasures, adding: “O you poor (man) who is slandering us, where were your ancestors at the time?”

The squabble comes at a time when Turkey has sided with Qatar in a diplomatic dispute with the UAE and other Gulf nations over Doha’s alleged support to extremists and overly warm ties to Iran.