Turkey speeds up diplomatic efforts to stop Israeli aggression

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 17 urged Pope Francis to help end what he called Israel’s “massacre” of Palestinians, which should be punished with sanctions, his office has said.

According to a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate, Erdoğan told the Pope that an atrocity was being committed in Palestine, and Israel’s attacks were not only against Palestinians but all Muslims, Christians and humanity.

Apart from blocking access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, restricting the freedom of worship, killing innocent civilians in the Palestinian lands and violating human dignity, the occupying Israel is also endangering regional security, Erdoğan said.

All humanity should unite against Israel’s illegal and inhuman practices that also violate the status of Jerusalem, he added.

He stressed that the international community should give Israel a deterrent response and lesson it deserves and take concrete steps in this direction.

The Palestinians will continue to be massacred as long as the international community does not punish Israel, which has committed a crime against humanity, Erdoğan said.

Turkey has carried out intense diplomatic efforts at all relevant international platforms, especially at the United Nations, but the U.N. Security Council has not displayed the necessary sense of responsibility, he noted.

Meanwhile, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Ömer Çelik criticized the U.N.’s “equal calls” to Israel and Palestine to stop aggression.

“They make equal calls to the murderers of children and those whose children are killed. This is political hypocrisy,” Çelik said on Twitter, noting that this kind of statement was nothing more than encouraging Israel to do more persecution.

“The Netanyahu government is killing children. The United Nations calls on Israel and Palestine, saying that meaningless bloodshed, terror and destruction must end immediately,” he added.

As part of Turkey’s efforts to stop Israel’s aggression in Gaza, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on May 17 spoke to his British counterpart, Dominic Raab, and emphasized the importance of the international community in responding more forcefully to stop the Israeli offensive, diplomatic sources said.

The Israeli military has staged airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since May 10, leaving behind a massive trail of destruction across the seaside territory.

The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate against Israeli assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah if they were not halted.