Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Israel to abandon its “intention to spread conflicts to the region,” and urged the United States and Western countries to “stop supporting Israel in this regard.”
“Israel cannot continue this brutality and savagery any longer. Tel Aviv must stop insisting on carrying out these massacres and end these inhumane attacks,” Erdogan stated during a press briefing on his return flight from Germany on Sunday.
Erdogan reiterated that the international community, particularly Western countries, must increase their pressure on Israel.
“Until now, it is Israel that has insisted on attacks and continued the massacres. It is Israel that tramples on human rights and international law. Now they are threatening Lebanon to spread the conflicts.”
Ankara has advocated for peace from the very beginning, the Turkish president emphasized.
“Türkiye is the country that has voiced the necessity of ending these conflicts and achieving a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders to ensure lasting peace,” Erdogan added, stressing the urgent need for a permanent ceasefire.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the press on a return flight from Germany:
Doha talks on Gaza ceasefire seem to be heading in the right direction.
The West must pile more pressure on Netanyahu to end the Palestinians’ massacre.
Permanent peace is only possible through a two-state solution.
Regarding bilateral ties with Syria, Erdogan noted, “Currently, more than 3 million refugees from Syria are in our country. We have reached a point where if Bashar al Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Türkiye, we will respond positively.”
He added, “We will extend our invitation. Hopefully, with this invitation, we aim to bring Türkiye-Syria relations back to the same point as in the past.”
Concerning a potential meeting in Türkiye, Erdogan mentioned positive approaches from the Russian president and the Iraqi prime minister.
“We talk about mediation everywhere, so why not with our neighbour right at our border?” the Turkish president questioned, expressing his intention to improve relations.
Commenting on the recent presidential election in Iran, where Turkic-origin Masoud Pezeshkian was elected president, Erdogan remarked that Iran “is an important neighbour” with whom Türkiye has historical and cultural ties.
“I expect that Turkish-Iranian bilateral relations will develop positively at an increasing pace in the new period.”
Regarding the UK election results, Erdogan said Türkiye and the United Kingdom have a deeply rooted bilateral relationship, and Ankara has worked with both Labour and Conservative prime ministers. He added, “What matters is to work towards the common interests of both countries.”
“In this new period, we will continue to enhance our relations with the UK in all areas. We have significant agenda items ahead of us, and we intend to address them to further the positive trajectory of our relationship,” the Turkish president concluded.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
