Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

Erdogan emphasizes importance of rebuilding Gaza at Egypt summit


(MENAFN) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday emphasized the urgency of rebuilding Gaza, pledging that Türkiye will take comprehensive measures to meet the humanitarian and housing needs of Palestinians before winter sets in.

His remarks followed a peace summit on Gaza held in Egypt’s resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, co-hosted by US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

On Monday, Trump and Sisi welcomed more than 20 world leaders — including Erdogan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani — for the signing of a Gaza ceasefire agreement. The ceremony opened with a speech by the US president before the leaders signed the accord.

Speaking to Turkish journalists aboard his return flight from Egypt, Erdogan described his diplomatic engagement with Trump as “extremely important” and said it would continue “with the same sensitivity.”

He called the signing at the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit “not just symbolic—they mark our commitment to peace as a part of history,” adding that Türkiye is “highly enthusiastic about the establishment of a peace order in Gaza.”

Erdogan said Ankara is seeking broad international backing for Gaza’s reconstruction. “We are seeking support from all—from the Gulf countries to the United States and Europe,” he noted, stressing that Türkiye’s efforts aim to ensure that the genocide in Gaza “is not forgotten.”

He added that roughly 350 Turkish aid trucks have entered Gaza in recent days, while the Hamas-Israel agreement envisions at least 600 trucks a day.

Reiterating Türkiye’s longstanding stance on Palestine, Erdogan said: “The only solution to the Palestinian cause is the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with full territorial integrity, based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

On Syria, the Turkish president said Ankara continues to issue warnings to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to “not take the wrong paths” and to support Syria’s unity and territorial integrity. He added that “rapid integration of Syrian Democratic Forces with Syria will also accelerate Syria’s development initiatives.”

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