Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reasserted his stance on ceasefire in the Gaza strip, calling it a top priority for Turkey and Egypt.
This came as he spoke at a joint press conference with Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
El-Sisi met Erdogan in Ankara, the Turkish capital on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, the first of such presidential visit in 12 years.
“We are doing all that we can to bring the bloodshed to an end and to continue to deliver the humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Erdogan stated.
“This remains on the top of our priorities today,” he stressed.
He disclosed that Ankara and Cairo have a common stance on Palestine, adding that their contributions to regional peace and stability are “vital.”
The Turkish president said that in addition to dropping thousands of tonnes of bombs on civilians, Israel has continued to exercise a “policy of starvation” in Gaza.
“Each and every Palestinian citizen or child who dies of starvation remains the responsibility of Israel, and those backing Israel,” Erdogan said.
He said that some states continue to provide “unconditional support to Israel”, adding that Israel must be “prevented” from “plunging the whole region into war.”
“In this fashion, they are accessories to Israel’s crimes. They are accomplices to their crimes in the massacres and pogroms perpetrated against the civilian population of Gaza.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Mentioning that 32% of the total aid sent to Gaza so far came from Turkey, Erdogan thanked Egyptian authorities, particularly the Egyptian Red Crescent, who have collaborated with the Turkish Red Crescent and Turkey’s Disaster and Relief Agency (AFAD) in delivering the supplies.
He criticized Israel’s hindrance to aid delivery to the Gaza strip.
“By obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid, the Israeli administration adds another crime to its list. It attempts to break the resistance spirit of the Palestinian people, which it could not be shattered with thousands of tons of bombs, by condemning them to hunger and thirst.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Commenting on the mediation by Egypt, Qatar, and the US for a cease-fire in Gaza, Erdogan said Türkiye is supporting the process through its Foreign Ministry and National Intelligence Organization.
Speaking next to his Turkish counterpart, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi described the situation in Gaza as an “unprecedented catastrophe.”
“I reiterate the joint stand of Egypt and Turkey calling for an immediate ceasefire, rejecting further escalation by Israel in the occupied West Bank, and taking tangible measures to live up to the aspiration of the Palestinian people for the establishment of an independent state based on 1967 borders with [occupied] East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Turkey, Egypt Reaffirm Will To Improve Relations
Also, at the joint press conference with el-Sisi, Erdogan said that the two countries had reaffirmed their will to improve relations in every area, including trade, defence, health, energy, and environmental matters.
“We will enhance our multifaceted relations in a win-win manner,” Erdogan said, adding that the two countries have a common stance on the Palestinian issue and that their contributions to regional peace and stability are “vital”.
Ministers from both countries signed a series of agreements ahead of the leaders’ statements.
After a decade of frosty relations, the two leaders said they had turned over a “new leaf” in ties in February, when Ergodan visited Cairo.
In 2013, Ankara and Cairo cut ties after el-Sisi, then defence minister of Egypt, led a coalition to remove President Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkey and part of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Erdogan said at the time that he would never speak to “anyone” like el-Sisi, who in 2014 became president of the Arab world’s most populous nation.
Despite the decade of estrangement, trade between the two countries continued: Turkey is Egypt’s fifth-largest trading partner, while Egypt is Turkey’s largest partner in Africa.
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