ANKARA (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey was ready to help in any way possible to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, and expressed satisfaction with the ceasefire agreement that has come into effect in Lebanon.
Turkey, which has fiercely criticised Israel’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon, has previously said it discussed a potential truce in Gaza with Palestinian militant group Hamas and gave the group recommendations on how to proceed with the negotiations.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States would again push for an elusive ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza “with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others”.
“We are stating that, as Turkey, we are ready to provide any contribution for the massacre in Gaza to end and for a lasting ceasefire to be achieved,” Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.
Asked about Biden’s remarks, a Turkish official told Reuters a ceasefire in Lebanon without a truce in Gaza was not enough to achieve regional stability, adding Ankara was ready to help reach a deal in Gaza, just as it had supported previous efforts.
“We are again ready to help achieve a permanent ceasefire and a lasting solution in Gaza,” the official said.
While Ankara has repeatedly traded insults with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war, it has not officially severed ties with it. Unlike Israel and its Western partners, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation and regularly hosts some of its senior members.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Daren Butler and Gareth Jones)
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