Mecca Agreement could be starting point for regional stability, security: Palestinian president

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement could be a starting point for ensuring regional stability and security, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday.

“This agreement is very important. I hope it will be a starting point for ensuring stability and security in the region and defending the interests of the Muslim Ummah,” Abbas said at a joint news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara.

Abbas said he and Erdoğan held “very important and productive” talks on developments in the region and bilateral relations, adding that they agreed to strengthen bilateral dialogue.

He said a just peace could only be achieved by ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.

Abbas said achieving this goal within the framework of international law and the Arab Peace Initiative was important.

“I thank President Erdoğan and brotherly Türkiye for their support for our rights and the cause of the Palestinian people,” he said.

Abbas also thanked Türkiye for providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, hosting Palestinian students, and treating patients and the wounded.