THE Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed it Israel for “fanaticism” in his actions in the Gaza Strip, however he stated to Iranian President Ibrahim Raishi that Ankara is ready to assume the role of guarantor for the settlement of the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.
According to a statement issued by the Turkish presidency, Erdogan and Raisi met on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization summit being held in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
“We are here face to face with one fanaticism which even legalizes the killing of children”, said Erdogan today at the summit.
Nearly 11,000 civilians have been killed in the “merciless” Israeli attacks, the Turkish president said, signaling a further hardening of his tone.
Erdogan blamed western governments, naming in particular that of the United States, that they have failed to “even condemn the killing of children or call for a cease-fire” in Gaza.
The Islamist Erdogan had initially sought to take over mediator role in the conflict, which erupted after Hamas gunmen invaded Israeli territory on October 7, where they killed more than 1,400 people, carrying out the worst massacre in Israel’s history.
Over time, however, the Turkish leader adopted a more hard tone against him Israel, especially after heavy Israeli bombardment of Gaza and after his government’s talks with Hamas on the release of foreign hostages ended in an impasse.
Last week Turkey recalled its ambassador from Israel and Erdogan accused the Jewish state of crimes against humanity. Erdogan also maintains that members of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the EU and the United States, are freedom fighters.
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