Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives to attend the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023.
turkish president, Recep Tayyip ErdoganHe announced, today, Saturday 4, that he would cut off all contact with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin NetanyahuHis government recalled its ambassador in protest against the attack it carried out in the country Gaza strip against agitation. “Netanyahu is no longer someone we can talk to. “We talked,” Erdogan said, according to Turkish press reports. Shortly thereafter, Turkey announced that it had recalled its ambassador to Israel, Saqr Ozkan Turunlar, in light of “the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in Gaza resulting from ongoing Israeli attacks on civilians and Israel’s refusal to accept a ceasefire,” the report said. Foreign affairs. This announcement comes on the eve of a trip by the head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, to Türkiye. The Foreign Minister arrives in Ankara on Sunday for a two-day visit.
On October 25, the Turkish president, who met Netanyahu for the first time in New York in September, said he had suspended his plans to travel to Israel. He declared that “there is no other country whose army behaves with such inhumanity,” referring to the Israeli attack in response to the attack launched by the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas on its territory on October 7, which left 1,400 people dead, according to the Israeli authorities. According to Hamas, which rules Gaza, the Israeli attack killed about 9,480 people. In response to Erdogan’s criticism, Israel announced on October 29 the withdrawal of its diplomats from Turkey. However, the country had already temporarily withdrawn its envoys on October 19 as a precaution. Erdogan made clear on Saturday that Türkiye would not sever its diplomatic relations with Israel. He added: “Complete severing of relations is not possible, especially in international diplomacy.”
*With information from Agence France-Presse
