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The ‘proliferation related’ visions of Israel should be stopped if there is to be peace in the region, and a free and independent Palestinian state should be recognised, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai today.
The Turkish President did not expand further on what he meant by “proliferation related visions”, but Israel received international criticism last month when a conference of its ministers sympathetic to settlers gathered to call for resettlement of Gaza.
The Turkish President described the conflict as ‘a massacre’ and said the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza is on the brink of further escalation.
He said that Israel must recognise the rights of the Palestinian people.
“We will never abandon our Palestinian brothers and sisters and will never leave them without home,” he said, adding that 380 wounded Palestinians are currently being treated in Türkiye.
He said his country was offended by the pause in donations to UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees.
“I would like to call out to all of the countries with a conscience to support this agency which is the life blood of 6 million refugees,” he said.
He added: “Israel’s policies are pushing antisemitism all around the world. without further bloodshed, before the entire region is exposed to harsher threats, we need to stop the massacre taking place in Gaza once and for all.”
President Erdogan spoke in Turkish at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
