Erdoğan Calls on Turkic States to Expand Support for Palestinians

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on members of the Organization of Turkic States on Friday to step up support for Palestinians, including humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in Gaza. He made the appeal at the opening of the organization's 13th leaders' summit at Beştepe Millet Exhibition Hall in Ankara. Erdoğan urged the participating states to contribute to aid deliveries and to the earliest possible start of reconstruction. "We must provide the necessary contribution to delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza," he said. He also called for continued support for an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 boundaries, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Those were the Turkish president's stated political demands. Netanyahu has set out a different position on Palestinian statehood. In a June 28 statement outlining the principles of a government he would form, he opposed a Palestinian state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. He also listed Israel's ability to defend itself among those principles, alongside economic, energy and weapons independence. Türkiye took over the organization's rotating chairmanship from Azerbaijan at Friday's summit. Erdoğan said the Turkish term would aim to turn the body's institutional work into practical gains and strengthen cooperation. In the same address, he supported Azerbaijan's contacts with Armenia and said Türkiye would continue contributing to lasting peace.