Turkey’s Erdogan tells British PM Sunak: West needs to keep promises to Palestinians
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a call on Monday that Western countries should refrain from “provocative steps” regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Turkish presidency said.
Erdogan also told Sunak that Western powers must “remember the unkept promises to Palestine and do what is necessary”, the presidency said on social messaging platform X. It said the two also discussed the resolution of the “grave humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.
Erdogan said Israel’s blockade and bombing of Gaza in response to Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attack was a disproportionate response amounting to a “massacre,” but repeated Ankara’s offer to mediate.
With Ankara offering to mediate between the sides, Erdogan and his foreign minister held calls with regional powers and Western counterparts.
Erdogan, speaking to his ruling AK Party in parliament, said even war has a “morality” but the flare-up since the weekend “very severely” violated that.
“Preventing people meeting their most fundamental needs and bombing housing where civilians live – in short, conducting a conflict using every sort of shameful method – is not a war, it’s a massacre,” he said, referring to Israel cutting off electricity and water to Gaza and destroying infrastructure.
Turkey, which has backed Palestinians in the past and hosted members of Hamas while supporting a two-state solution, has been working to mend ties with Israel after years of acrimony. Unlike the European Union and United States, Ankara does not view Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
