President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday spoke with the leaders of a number of countries including Germany Iran Indonesia Qatar and Sudan and urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries to develop a “common stance” on the Gaza killings.
In this regard Erdogan spoke to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and stressed to him the need for a strong unified Islamic front against Israel Al Jazeera reported.
In a phone conversation the two leaders discussed the United States’ relocation of its embassy to occupied Jerusalem and the assault of Israeli troops against Palestinians last Monday.
They also discussed possible steps to be taken over Israeli violence ahead of a planned OIC emergency meeting on May 18 in Istanbul.
Erdogan stressed the importance of showing a common stance by Muslim countries against Israeli violence in Palestine refusing any peace deal that would ignore Palestinians’ rights.
For his part President Hassan Rouhani told his Turkish counterpart “the US administration’s move to relocate their embassy to the Holy Quds was illegal provoking the people of Palestine and other Muslims.”
Along the same line Erdogan expressed in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin serious concern over the number of casualties in the protests on the Gaza border the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
He reportedly told Russia’s Putin that Israel’s attacks on Palestinian demonstrators are shameful before the eyes of the world and he also informed the Russian president about the upcoming OIC meeting that will take place in Istanbul on May 18.
In his call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Erdogan exchanged views regarding the tensions in Gaza while both leaders agreed that the current situation makes it difficult to find a solution to the problem reports said.
The Turkish president also held a phone call with Pope Francis later in the day to discuss the latest developments in Jerusalem and rising tensions in Gaza. Erdogan and the pope underlined that the U.S.’ decision to move its embassy violated the status of the holy city of Jerusalem and was “unacceptable”.
Since the Great March of Return began on March 30 more than 100 Palestinian peaceful demonstrators have been martyred while thousands others were injured by cross-border Israeli army gunfire.
