Supporting Palestine is shared responsibility of all humanity: Turkish president

Supporting Palestine is a shared responsibility of all humanity, particularly the Muslim world, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday.

“I want to once again emphasize that supporting Palestine is a shared responsibility of all humanity, particularly the Muslim world,” Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential palace in Ankara.

“We, as Türkiye, will continue to strongly defend the Palestinian cause on every platform,” he added.

Erdoğan also said the “genocidal Netanyahu government” continues its illegal actions in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem “before the eyes of the entire world.”

“The existence of a sovereign Palestinian state is being undermined. It is impossible to ignore this or remain indifferent to it,” he said.

Erdoğan called for the necessary conditions to be established as soon as possible to launch the reconstruction and rebuilding process in Gaza and ensure security in the enclave.

“We are particularly strongly opposed to provocations aimed at changing the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque, our first qibla, and other holy sites,” Erdoğan said.

Reiterating Ankara’s support for Palestinian statehood, Erdoğan said Türkiye would resolutely work for the establishment of an independent, geographically contiguous Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.