By Hedaya al-Saedi
GAZA CITY, Palestine
Palestinian martyr Mohammed Badwan was buried on Saturday wrapped in the Turkish flag as he always desired.
The 27-year-old was shot in the chest by Israeli forces on Friday during peaceful protest in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Mohammed used to hold the Turkish flag every time he participated in a rally and his wish was to be buried wrapped in the Turkish flag, according to his cousin Ihab Badwan, 24.
He added that Badwan “was fond of Turkey and admired the character of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan very much and always talked about his wish to travel to Turkey and see him face to face".
“Mohammed always told me that Erdogan is a supporter and a defender of the Palestinian cause,” he said.
For almost four months, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been holding almost daily demonstrations near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
Since the demonstrations began on March 30, more than 140 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.
Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.
They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
