TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says Israel's Gaza offensive threatens rapprochement process

Record ID: 217738

  • Title: TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says Israel's Gaza offensive threatens rapprochement process
  • Date: 11th July 2014
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 11, 2014) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS MARCHING PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS CHANTING ANTI-ISRAELI SLOGANS PROTESTERS DEMONSTRATING PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS PROTESTERS WAVING PALESTINIAN FLAGS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING SYMBOLIC FUNERAL PRAYERS FOR PALESTINIANS KILLED IN ISRAELI OFFENSIVE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTER MUJDAT KALKAN SAY
  • Embargoed: 26th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1BED3V53TYNYX27MHB6RTMKD2
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday (July 11) Israeli bombardment of Gaza was blocking efforts to patch up relations undermined by by a 2010 attack by Israeli commandos on a Turkish ship that had been challenging its blockade of the Palestinian territory.
    Close Turkish-Israeli relations, which also involved security co-operation and joint military exercises, had been an important part of the United States' regional policy.
    "We cannot have positive attitude about the rapprochement process while our brothers in Gaza and in Palestine are being killed and being bombed. Israel must establish the ceasefire and stop shooting," Erdogan said.
    President Abdullah Gul, speaking to journalists in the Turkish capital after Friday prayers, said such a move would "plant seeds of hatred in the region".
    "I am calling on Israel to stop the offensive. We hear that Israel is getting ready for a ground attack. I warn Israel to not launch this attack. I want to remind them this would trigger extremely dangerous and harmful trends and sow seeds of hatred in the region," said Gul.
    Israeli air strikes on densely populated Gaza killed 11 more people on Friday, raising the death toll from the four-day offensive to at least 96, most of them civilians, Palestinian officials said.
    Ankara's recent troubled relations with Jerusalem reached a nadir in 2010 when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, a vessel taking part in an aid flotilla challenging Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Ten people were killed.
    The Palestinian embassy in Turkey said Erdogan had "expressed sympathy and concern" in a telephone call on Friday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and that the two men would meet in Turkey next week.
    It also said Turkey had stated it was ready to provide urgent medical and food aid to Gaza and that preparations for an aid delivery were underway.
    Efforts to repair relations between Israel and Turkey had intensified in recent months after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologised for the ship raid and pledged compensation, as part of a U.S.-brokered rapprochement.
    Earlier this year Erdogan hinted that the two sides were on the brink of a deal, but progress has been hampered by the decision of a Turkish court in May to seek the arrest of four Israeli military commanders in relation to the killings.
    Erdogan, who is running in Turkey's first direct presidential elections next month, has regularly used his vocal defence of Palestinian rights as a campaign platform with his largely conservative Sunni Muslim voter base.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register