Sunday, July 13, 2014

Turkey warns Israel over Gaza offensive

Abdullah Gul

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that Israel must immediately stop its air-strikes on Gaza and not to embark on any ground operation.
In a written statement on Friday, Gul condemned Israeli air-strikes as well as the rising waves of violence in the region.
Gul called on Israel to return to the provisions of the 2012 cease-fire and to restart its negotiations with Palestinians, and to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.
Prime minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan warned Israel, saying unless it halts its operation, relations between the two countries will be jeopardised.
In a speech he delivered before his supported in the central Turkish city of Yuzgat on Thursday, Erdogan said his government has called on the international community and the UN "to immediately act to stop this injustice."
"Until when will humanity remain silent about what Israel is doing against a wronged people," Erdogan said. "Here is Israel, disproportionately striking innocent civilians with 300 or 400 bombs. Let's prevent it from doing that, so as to achieve peace."
Erdogan pointed out that Turkey is a party to the conflict in Gaza, since one of Turkey's conditions for the resumption of normal ties with Israel has been lifting the siege on Gaza. "It seems that Israelis do not have the intention to do this," he said.
He insisted that the restoration of normal ties with Israel is not viable with the continued injustice by Israel.
A number of Turkish cities witnessed protests following the Friday prayer, where protesters chanted against Zionist occupation and expressed solidarity with Palestinians.





Turkey Calls On Un To Help Stop Israeli Offensive On Gaza

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls on the international community to intervene immediately to halt Israeli airstrikes.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the international community to intervene immediately to help stop Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

Erdogan said in a phone conversation with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday, that the ceasefire agreement signed between Israel and Palestine in 2012 should be reinstated, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry officials.

He said that the Israeli government needed to understand that national security could only be ensured through a fair and comprehensive peace. 

Following the conversation, Erdogan also had a phone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, during which the two leaders agreed that the Israeli offensive must end.

Erdogan and Rouhani both stressed the urgent need for a ceasefire and provision of humanitarian aid to the Gazans.

'Revenge attack'

The two leaders also agreed that the foreign ministers of both countries would stay in close contact in order to take the initiative in helping halt the attacks and provide humanitarian aid.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 106 Palestinians have been killed and 750 injured since Israel's operation began on Tuesday, following a rise in tensions after three Israeli teenagers were found murdered last month and a Palestinian teenager was killed days later in a suspected revenge attack.

Israeli jets have carried out air attacks while Hamas has reportedly fired rockets into Tel Aviv and as far north as Haifa, 130km away from Gaza.

There have been no reports of Israeli fatalities.

"It is unacceptable for citizens on both sides to permanently live in fear of the next aerial attack," Ban said in an emergency UN Security Council session convened pm Thursday amid fears of a ground invasion by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Embattled enclave

Ban warned of the risk of "an all-out escalation" of conflict in Gaza amid Israel's four-day-old offensive and called for a ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians, adding that the threat of an Israeli ground offensive was "palpable", and an escalation was "preventable only if Hamas stops rocket firing (rockets)."

Israeli warplanes have pounded the Gaza Strip over the past four days as part of a military offensive -- dubbed "Operation Protective Edge" -- with the stated aim of ending rocket fire from the embattled coastal enclave.

Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire short-range rockets into Israel -- without causing any fatalities -- in response.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed on Thursday that at least 681 rockets had been fired at Israel from Gaza since 7 June.
- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/12718-turkey-warns-israel-over-gaza-offensive#sthash.h8pJKd1t.dpuf

No comments:

Post a Comment