Erdoğan urges West not to add fuel to flames in Mid East

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged the West, particularly the United States which has deployed its largest aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean, not to add fuel to the flames in the Middle East as clashes between Israel and Hamas intensify.

“Humanity has failed in this test. We regret those who add fuel to the flames [to the war between Israel and Hamas],” Erdoğan said in his weekly address to the parliamentary group of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Oct. 11.

“We call on America, Europe, and the states in other regions to take a fair and equitable stance based on humanitarian balances between the parties. Everyone must avoid impulsive decisions, such as cutting off humanitarian aid, which are aimed at punishing the Palestinian people collectively.”

Erdoğan’s statements come as the U.S. and some European powers have pledged full support to Israel against Hamas. Erdoğan, in a statement late on Oct. 10, specifically criticized the U.S. for deploying the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier to the region in support to Israel.

“What is the U.S. aircraft carrier doing in Israel? Why is it going there? What is this aircraft carrier supposed to do with all its surrounding boats and planes? It will step into very serious massacres by hitting and destroying Gaza and its surroundings,” Erdoğan said. He also slammed the U.S. for downing a Turkish drone in northern Syria while fighting the terrorist groups, accusing Washington of supporting and training the terror groups in the pretext of struggling against ISIL.

“I have to explain something here. Look, there are over 20 U.S. bases in Syria today. What are these U.S. bases doing in Syria? What is being done with these bases? Twenty-three bases. Should we not talk about these?” added the president.

Intense diplomacy

Erdoğan recalled that he had contacts with eight world leaders including U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Isaac Herzog and Mahmoud Abbas respectively, since the beginning of the crisis in a bid to end the war and prevent the war from expanding to the region.

“Taking a side blindly between the parties, which should both be criticized and supported given the methods they employ and their consequences, will only exacerbate the crisis. That is why we as Türkiye call on the parties to act with restraint. We want the war in the region to stop immediately and the problems between the parties to be settled through negotiations,” he said.

“We expressed that we are ready to provide the necessary support to prevent the escalation and spread of the conflicts.”

''It’s massacre not war''

Erdoğan also criticized Israel for conducting a disproportioned and unfounded response against Palestinians in Gaza.

“The disproportionate and unscrupulous attacks on Gaza could bring Israel into an unexpected and undesirable place in the eyes of world public opinion,” Erdoğan urged.

Slamming Israel for bombing civilian settlements, blocking humanitarian aid and cutting electricity and water to Gaza, he said “A conflict carried out with all kinds of shameful methods is not a war but a massacre.”

The Turkish president reiterated that Türkiye is against targeting civilians either in Israel on in Gaza underlining that it is ready to do its best to end the armed conflict and resolve the situation through talks.