Turkey recalls ambassador, stresses Gaza must be part of Palestinian state

The Foreign Ministry condemned the Turkish government on Saturday night for recalling its ambassador for consultations.

“Israel is in the midst of a war of self-defense imposed on it by a terrorist organization worse than ISIS,” the Foreign Ministry said. This “is another step by the Turkish president that sides with the Hamas terrorist organization.”

Earlier on Saturday, Ankara said it was recalling its ambassador to Israel, Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, for consultations after Israel recalled its envoys to Turkey last month to reassess their ties following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s description of Hamas as freedom fighters.

In a statement, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Torunlar was recalled “in view of the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Gaza caused by the continuing attacks by Israel against civilians, and Israel’s refusal of calls for a ceasefire and continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid.”

Israeli diplomats in Turkey had left the country before the Foreign Ministry recalled them due to security concerns after pro-Palestinian protests erupted across the country.

“Hamas terrorists brutally massacred over 1,400 people and kidnapped 240 to Gaza, among them babies, children, women and the elderly,” the Foreign Ministry said in response. “Furthermore, Hamas terrorists use the population of Gaza as human shields, and [it] is preventing them from moving to safe areas while stealing fuel, food, and drinking water from them.

“Hamas commits war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is the real enemy of the Palestinian people,” the ministry concluded.

Before the Israel-Hamas war, Turkey was working to repair relations with Israel after years of animosity.

Speaking to reporters on a return flight from Kazakhstan on Friday, Erdogan said that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would visit Turkey at the end of November and that he would attend an Organization for Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh this month to discuss a ceasefire in Gaza.

He also said Turkey would support any initiatives to ensure that Israel is held accountable for what he described as war crimes and human rights violations, and that a failure to do so would erode trust in the global system.

The president added that Gaza must be part of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state once the war is over, and Ankara will not support any plans “gradually erasing Palestinians” from history.

Turkey, which has sharply escalated its criticism of Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has intensified, supports a two-state solution and hosts members of Hamas, which it does not view as a terrorist organization, unlike the US, Britain, and others in the West. Turkey has called for an immediate ceasefire and offered to set up a system to guarantee it.

Turkey criticises the west

Erdogan repeated his criticism of Western countries for their support of Israel, saying Ankara’s trust in the European Union was “deeply shaken.”

“Once all of this that is happening is finished, we want to see Gaza as a peaceful region that is part of an independent Palestinian state, in line with 1967 borders, with territorial integrity, and with east Jerusalem as its capital,” Erdogan was on Saturday cited as saying by broadcaster Haberturk and others.

“We will support formulas that will bring peace and calm to the region. We will not be supportive of plans that will further darken the lives of Palestinians, that will gradually erase them from the scene of history.”

He also said his intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities, as well as Hamas. Still, he added that he would not regard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who Erdogan said was the sole perpetrator of the situation in Gaza – as a counterpart.

“Netanyahu cannot in any way be taken as a counterpart for us anymore. We have erased him, thrown him out,” he said. “But otherwise, there can be no such thing as completely severing ties, especially not in international diplomacy,” he was cited as saying by Haberturk.