Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday for talks focused on Gaza, Palestinian statehood and regional security.
Speaking at a joint news conference after closed-door talks in Ankara, Erdoğan said supporting the Palestinian national cause was a “shared responsibility of all humanity, particularly the Muslim world.”
He also accused Israel’s hard-line government of committing “genocide” in Gaza, adding that Türkiye would continue “defending the Palestinian cause on every platform.”
Erdoğan further accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of undermining prospects for a sovereign Palestinian state through its policies in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Israel rejects claims that its conduct in Gaza amounts to genocide, saying its military operations there are directed against Hamas and other militant groups.
In June, an independent UN inquiry said Israeli actions in Gaza amounted to genocide – a finding rejected by Israeli officials.
Speaking alongside Abbas, Erdoğan also repeated Türkiye’s objection to Israeli actions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, warning against what he described as unilateral attempts to alter the longstanding status quo governing the holy site.
Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the compound is sacred to both Muslims and Jews and has often been a flashpoint in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Tensions erupted again last month when Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the site and encouraged religious Jews to worship there.
Under longstanding arrangements, Muslims are permitted to pray at the compound while non-Muslims are only permitted to visit.
Erdoğan also reiterated Ankara’s support for an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Abbas, for his part, welcomed a landmark joint defence pact signed last week by Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, saying the agreement could be a “starting point for ensuring security in the region” and protecting Muslim countries’ interests.
The agreement commits the three member countries to regard an attack against one as an attack on all.
Officials have described the tripartite agreement as “defensive in nature,” insisting it is not directed against any particular country.
Signed amid unprecedented regional tensions, the agreement leaves open the possibility of other countries eventually joining, with the aim of creating what some officials have called a “new regional security architecture.”
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrai...
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the ...
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 p...
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the weekend BRICS summit, amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, joining a host of foreign dignitaries.
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after it was hit by a drone attack, with Riyadh and Baghdad saying the strike originated from Iraq.
Dubai’s property market has spent years climbing. Now, for the first time since 2021, prices are moving in the opposite direction.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 people have been evacuated and six have died, the country’s search and rescue agency said on Sunday.
China will lead the creation of an open source platform among BRICS members to promote cooperation on large language models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
Swedes vote in an election on Sunday (13 September) that could see the far-right enter government for the first time if the country's right-wing parties can form a majority.
Philippine rescuers recovered 41 more charred remains from a ferry fire on Saturday (12 September), taking the death toll to 76, while 13 people remained unaccounted for as forensic teams worked to identify the victims.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment