Turkey welcomes truce, urges Israel to end operations into Gaza

ANKARA

Israeli soldiers from the Paratroop battalion return to Israel from Gaza Strip, southern Israel, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. AP Photo

Turkey has welcomed an Israel-Hamas cease-fire that went into effect on Aug. 5 and is meant to last three days while underlining that the groundwork for the truce was laid with the “constructive conduct of the Palestinian delegation in negotiations being held in Cairo.”

“We call on Israel to end its all operations in Gaza and call on the parties to avoid provocative steps which might ruin the cease-fire along this process. We hope that the tranquility which will be made prevailing along this critical process will lay the required ground for comprehensive negotiations aimed at building a sustainable cease-fire in Gaza,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released Aug. 5.

“It is now time for the comprehension of the fact that a sustainable cease-fire in the region can [only] be possible through the lifting of restrictions on Gaza. Our country will continue working in close cooperation and coordination with its international partners to provide a sustainable cease-fire,” the ministry said.