The first refugee councillor to be elected in Scotland has criticised the First Minister for shaking hands with the president of Türkiye.
A Kurdish-born SNP Roza Salih, a councillor in Glasgow, came to Scotland from Iraq seeking asylum as a child and was a key figure in a campaign against dawn raids used to remove refugees who had been refused asylum.
She said she is “disappointed and disgusted” by a picture of Humza Yousaf meeting Turkish President Recipp Tayyip Erdogan.
READ MORE: Yousaf insists Matheson a 'man of integrity' despite data roaming lies
In a social media post on Friday night, the councillor hit out at her party leader, saying Mr Erdogan “kills Kurds”.
She wrote: “I am disappointed and disgusted by this image @HumzaYousaf. Erdogan kills #Kurds in Turkey & does not respect human rights.
“Our politicians & half of the population are imprisoned by him and you shake his hand. I did not expect this from a FM that says he respects human rights.”
I am disappointed and disgusted by this image @HumzaYousaf Erdogan kills #Kurds in Turkey & does not respect Human Rights. Our Politicians & half of the population are imprisoned by him and you shake his hand. I did not expect this from a FM that says he respects human rights. pic.twitter.com/gdzzlot9Gn
— Cllr Roza Salih (@RozaSalih) December 1, 2023
The picture, originally posted by the First Minister, shows him shaking the hand of the Turkish president as he visits the Cop28 climate conference in Dubai, where he says the pair discussed climate change as well as the war in Gaza and the need for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire”.
Mr Yousaf wrote: “As well as discussing the urgency of global action on tackling the climate crisis, I spoke to @RTErdogan & Lebanon PM @Najib_Mikati about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
“An immediate & permanent ceasefire is needed now. Too many innocent children have died, it must stop.”
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf blocks external probe in row over misleading Holyrood
Responding to the attack from Ms Salih, a spokesman for the First Minister said: “It is important for the First Minister to meet with heads of state, and the First Minister had a meeting with President Erdogan – along with many other world leaders – at Cop28 in Dubai.
“They discussed the need for urgent action on the climate crisis and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.”
Roza Salih is an SNP councillor in the Greater Pollok ward of Glasgow City Council.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel