ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told leaders at a NATO summit on Wednesday that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran needed to be made permanent, his office said, and called for a ceasefire in Gaza to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there.
NATO member Turkey has been fiercely critical of Israel and its assault against Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, which has been reduced to rubble after two years of war and had its population displaced.
Ankara has also said Israel’s “state terrorism” against Iran – with which it shares a 560-kilometer border – heightened the risks of a wider conflict, and welcomed the ceasefire between the two.
At the NATO summit in The Hague, Erdogan held talks with the leaders of France, Germany and Britain on regional tensions, bilateral ties and relations with the EU, and defence industry cooperation. Erdogan met U.S. President Donald Trump late on Tuesday.
“Our President said he welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, that the de facto situation needs to turn into lasting calm as soon as possible, that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is increasingly continuing, and that a lasting ceasefire is also needed there urgently,” Erdogan’s office said after his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
He repeated that call to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, adding that a solution needed to be found to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Erdogan also told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that “these tensions must not leave the humanitarian crisis in Gaza – which has reached a disastrous level – forgotten”.
Erdogan said the problems between Tehran and Washington could only be solved through diplomacy, adding that everyone must contribute to achieving lasting peace in the Middle East.
“We welcome the ceasefire achieved through the efforts of U.S. President Trump,” he told a press conference following the summit. “We expect the parties to unconditionally abide by the call of my friend Trump.”
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, editing by Ed Osmond)
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