Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the international community to uphold its obligations to the people of Gaza.
“The Israeli government must not be allowed to violate the ceasefire,” said Erdogan in a joint press conference with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaa Khurelsukh in the capital Ankara on Thursday.
The world “must fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities toward Palestinians in Gaza,” Erdogan said.
“Despite losing more than 50,000 martyrs, mostly women and children, Gaza did not surrender, could not be subdued, and Gazans did not bow down to the oppressors,” Erdogan stressed.
Erdogan stresses the need for the international community to intensify efforts to uphold the ceasefire and address the devastation in Gaza, describing this as a responsibility for humanity.
“As an alliance of humanity, we must work harder, especially from this point on, to ensure adherence to the ceasefire, and to heal the wounds in Gaza,” Erdogan noted.
“Türkiye believes peace talks for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital should begin as soon as possible,” Erdogan added.
Khurelsukh, for his part, expressed his country’s gratitude for “Türkiye's efforts to establish peace on both global and regional scale.”
Reaching a ceasefire agreement
Qatari Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced on Wednesday evening the success of mediators in reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza, noting that its implementation will begin this Sunday.
The ceasefire comes on day 467 of Israel's indiscriminate campaign against Gaza, which has killed over 46,700 people, most of them women and children, since October 7, 2023. Some 1,200 people were killed in that attack, and about 250 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages.
More than 11,000 Palestinians have gone missing amid sweeping the destruction caused by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many Palestinians, young and old alike, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent times.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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