Erdogan: USA must stop Israel in Gaza
After weeks of rocket fire on the Gaza Strip, the Turkish president is campaigning for a permanent ceasefire. Erdogan is not sparing in his criticism of Israel. Its allies have a duty to exert more influence, according to Erdogan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the USA to persuade Israel to halt its offensive in the Gaza Strip. "The USA must increase its pressure on Israel, the West must increase its pressure on Israel," Erdogan told journalists. "It is vital that we achieve a ceasefire." What is needed in the Gaza Strip is not a pause for a few hours, but a permanent ceasefire," he said.
"The country that needs to be most involved is the USA, which has an influence on Israel," Erdogan continued. At the same time, he reiterated his stance that the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas "is a political party that won the elections in Palestine". In contrast to the European Union and the USA, he does not regard Hamas as a terrorist organization, the Turkish President emphasized.
Visit to Germany on the agenda
Erdogan made his comments on the flight home from a summit meeting of Arab and Muslim countries in Riyadh. The Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had issued a joint statement calling for a "binding" UN resolution to stop the "barbaric" Israeli attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip.
The Turkish president had already accused Israel of expansionism. He said in Ankara that Israel was trying to "build a state whose history goes back only 75 years and whose legitimacy is called into question by its own fascism". When the state was founded in 1948, Israel "appropriated by force the land in which the Palestinian people had lived for thousands of years", Erdogan continued.
Erdogan is expected in Berlin on Friday, where he will be received by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The war between Israel and Hamas is likely to be one of the most important topics of discussion.
- Following his criticisms during his flight home from a summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas with German leaders, including Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
- Amidst the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, Erdogan urged the USA to intensify its pressure on Israel, stating that as a key ally, it holds significant influence over Israel's actions.
- Despite categorizing Hamas as a political party that won the elections in Palestine, rather than a terrorist organization as per the European Union and the USA, Erdogan reiterated his stance that Israel's expansionist policies in the Gaza Strip, including its forced annexation of land inhabited by Palestinians for over a thousand years, are questionable.
Source: www.ntv.de
