ISTANBUL (dpa-AFX) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Izchak Herzog about the Islamist Hamas’ major attack on Israel. Erdogan said in a conversation with Abbas that Turkey was making every effort to restore peace in the region, the presidential office said on Monday evening. During the phone call with Herzog, he warned that any step that could harm the people in the Gaza Strip would perpetuate the spiral of violence in the region.
The relationship between Israel and Turkey is difficult, but there has recently been a rapprochement. One of the critical points is Ankara’s support for Hamas.
Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA, the EU and Israel, caused the worst bloodbath among civilians since the founding of the Israeli state in a major attack on the Israeli border area on Saturday. Israel responded with counterattacks.
The head of the Islamist Hüda Par, which belongs to the ruling alliance of Erdogan’s Islamic-conservative AKP, supported Hamas on Saturday and described the bloody attack as legitimate. In July, Erdogan hosted Palestinian President Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Ankara for talks on reconciliation between the two rival groups./jam/DP/ngu