Turkish President Recep Erdogan on Saturday once again called on Islamic countries to form an alliance against what he called “the growing threat of Israel’s expansion,” Reuters reports.
He made the comments following the killing on Friday by Israeli troops of a woman with Turkish and American citizenship participating in a protest against settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, banditry and state terrorism is the union of Islamic countries,” Erdogan said at an Islamic school association event near Istanbul.
He said recent steps Turkey has taken to improve ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed at “forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism,” which he said also threatens Lebanon and Syria.
Erdogan hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Ankara this week and they discussed the war in Gaza and ways to further restore their long-frozen ties during what was the first such presidential visit in 12 years.
Relations between them began to thaw in 2020, as Turkey began diplomatic efforts to ease tensions with estranged regional rivals, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Erdogan said in July that Turkey would extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “at any time” for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbors, which severed ties in 2011 after the Syrian civil war broke out.
Israel did not immediately comment on Erdogan’s remarks on Saturday.
The Israeli military said after Friday’s incident that it was investigating reports that a foreign national had been killed. The details of the accident and the circumstances under which she was hit are being verified.
There was no immediate comment on Friday’s incident from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in Gaza a day earlier killed 27 Palestinians. It came as health officials resumed polio vaccinations for tens of thousands more children in the enclave.
The Gaza ceasefire agreement is 90% agreed, but there are several critical issues that remain. This was stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
US President Joe Biden proposed a three-phase cease-fire on May 31, but since then gaps have remained on a final deal for a cease-fire and the release of hostages in Gaza.
Hamas has rejected the option of having any Israeli presence in the Philadelphia Corridor, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not abandon the corridor.
news.bg
#Erdogan #Islamic #world #unite #Israel
