President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said there would be no regional or global peace without ensuring peace in Gaza.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Erdoğan highlighted the importance of reaching a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been carrying out indiscriminate attacks that devastated the civilian infrastructure of the besieged Palestinian enclave and killed over 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Welcoming the cease-fire in Lebanon, Erdoğan said there should also be a cease-fire in Gaza and that Türkiye will do whatever is necessary to facilitate peace in Palestine.
Erdoğan also said U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent efforts to restart Gaza cease-fire talks was a positive but late move.
On Wednesday, Biden said Washington would attempt to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza with Türkiye, Qatar, Egypt, Israel and others.
Months of attempts to negotiate a cease-fire have yielded scant progress, and negotiations are now on hold. Mediator Qatar suspended its efforts until the sides were prepared to make concessions.
There are disagreements over Israel’s continued military presence inside Gaza, particularly along the border with Egypt, the free movement of Palestinians inside the territory and the identity and number of prisoners to be freed in a swap.
Türkiye has been fiercely critical of Israel’s brutal offensive in Gaza, which it and others say amounts to genocide. It has also slammed many Western allies for their support of Israel and repeatedly called for Muslim unity to facilitate a desperately needed cease-fire.
Ankara urges Israel to reciprocate the constructive approach of the Palestinians in cease-fire negotiations and the international community to pressure Netanyahu’s government.
Türkiye is a staunch supporter of Hamas, which it describes as a resistance movement, unlike the Western countries, which mostly define it as a terrorist group, and hosted Haniyeh several times to discuss cease-fire efforts and the humanitarian aid crisis in the blockaded enclave.
It has formally applied to join South Africa’s initiative to have Israel tried for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The president reiterated the importance of extensive cooperation between Muslim countries in the face of Israel’s massacres and attacks threatening regional security and said both he and the Omani sultan agreed on the matter.
He thanked Oman for its support and solidarity following the Feb. 6 earthquakes, as he said the two countries would continue to further strengthen relations. Erdoğan noted that he would make a return visit to Oman soon, as he said the two countries signed 10 agreements in foreign relations, economy, health and culture.
Erdoğan welcomed Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq for the first time in the two countries’ history.
Sultan Haitham’s visit featured one-on-one and delegation-level talks with Erdoğan, followed by an agreement signing ceremony.
The first relations between a Turkish state and Oman began in the 11th century and ties developed significantly during the Ottoman period, spanning from the 14th century to the early 1900s, with praise-filled correspondence between the rulers of the two sides.
Oman was a key crossroads for commerce, which was attractive to the Ottoman Empire. The two sides had relations “in all aspects,” including trade ties, as well as “military cooperation to secure trade routes” from Africa and the Far East.