Turkey, Israel should talk over Gaza strikes: Turkish deputy PM

ANKARA – Anatolia News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. AA photo

Turkey and Israel should communicate with each other in an effort to at least bring a halt to the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, according to Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç.

Turkey will undertake all necessary efforts on the issue, Arınç said, while noting that the two countries’ relations were currently frozen.

“Even so, the two countries could meet at least to stop this calamity and strikes,” Arınç told reporters late last night in Ankara.

Describing the Israeli air strikes on Gaza as a “calamity,” Arınç said the killing of Hamas chief Ahmed al-Jaabari and striking other targets in the Gaza city was inhumane.

“We expect the strikes to stop immediately. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has made a statement that they will continue [to strike]. We don’t want a repeat of the tragic events that took place in Gaza in the past. We expect innocent people not to die. These attacks have no legal or moral grounds,” he said.