A Turkish diplomatic source stated today that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to discuss Turkey’s efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during talks this week in Ankara. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki mentioned during a diplomatic forum in Turkey early this week that Abbas will visit Ankara tomorrow, Tuesday, to meet with Erdogan.
Turkey, which has strongly criticized Israel for its military operations in Gaza and has supported actions to prosecute it for genocide at the International Court of Justice, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire. However, Ankara is not directly involved in ceasefire negotiations. Unlike its Western allies and some Gulf countries, Turkey does not designate the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which governs Gaza and launched an attack inside Israel on October 7 that triggered Israel’s military operations, as a terrorist organization.
The diplomatic source indicated that Erdogan and Abbas will discuss the latest developments in Gaza as well as the situation in the West Bank. The source added, "Turkey has been providing extensive humanitarian aid to Gaza in coordination with Egypt since the beginning of the Israeli attacks. In this context, humanitarian aid operations will also be discussed during the meetings with President Abbas."
