Baku. TurkicWorld:
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he reminded the United States its “historic” responsibility in the Palestine-Israel conflict. “The world expects them to take a stand (to stop Israeli aggression),” Erdoğan was quoted in an interview published on Tuesday, reports TurkicWorld with the reference to Hurriyet Daily News.
Erdoğan has been critical of the U.S., a major ally of both Türkiye and Israel, for its blatant support of the Netanyahu administration, which the Turkish leader earlier accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.
He earlier said "a fairer world," his oft-repeated motto for a change in world order, especially the composition of decision-making mechanisms of the United Nations, was "possible but not with the United States." The president, however, keeps all communication channels open with Washington D.C. despite souring ties over support to Tel Aviv. He recently held a phone call with President Joe Biden.
In his remarks to journalists, Erdoğan reiterated how he told Biden in the call that the U.S. had a historic responsibility on the issue. "I believe it. They have the responsibility of persuading Israel to give up the cruelty and end the massacre in Gaza. So far, they almost encouraged Israel, let alone stop it. Encouraged by the United States, Israel ignored international law and human rights. We are talking about an Israel relying on the United States, which they believe would protect them under any circumstances," Erdoğan said.
"I told Biden this responsibility. I call on them to adopt the stand the whole world expects from them. How many times can the world highlight the necessity of stopping Israel? For weeks now, either at the United Nations or on streets of cities across the world, humanity says enough is enough. The United States should stop ignoring that call," he said.
The president noted that those who remained quiet in the face of Israel's savagery would be held accountable in the annals of history. Türkiye advocates for a trial of Netanyahu and his lieutenants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide in Gaza. Turkish lawyers mobilized to achieve it and took Türkiye's case to the court recently.
"But justice will not prevail, unfortunately, just when Gaza is back to its former calm. The world has still its problems. For instance, we had a grain corridor mechanism, a step taken for a fairer world," Erdoğan said. He stated that he would soon hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a revival of the grain corridor amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Grain deal
The U.N. and Türkiye-brokered pact allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports despite the 18-month war. The deal was vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other goods that developing nations rely on. "We need to revive the grain corridor. We need to help the African countries. We had a three-party solidarity mechanism as Türkiye, Russia and Qatar. Qatar would provide financial means and we would process the grain in our factories to produce flour and ship them to African countries. We are following it up. I will soon hold talks with President Putin and tell him about the need to make the grain corridor run again. By God's will, we will have a positive answer," he said. The pact collapsed after Russia pulled out in mid-July, complaining that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn’t been honored and that insufficient Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need.
Türkiye has positioned itself to facilitate any peace talks between the warring sides. It has opposed the Russian invasion but also the Western sanctions on Moscow. Erdoğan has maintained good relations with Putin and helped broker prisoner exchanges between the warring sides.
Hamas-Fatah talks
The president also touched upon Türkiye’s role in the resolution of the conflict and the dialogue between Hamas and Fatah factions. He noted that the two factions, who were at odds before the latest stage of the conflict broke out, may upgrade their discussions for a full reconciliation. He also pledged Türkiye may assist them, pointing to his hosting of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"Hamas is not a terrorist group. It is a political party," Erdoğan reiterated, countering the Western narrative viewing the faction as terrorists attacking Israel.
"They are fighting for their rights as a party. I brought together Haniyyeh and Abbas in my office. It is out of the question that the two sides stopped negotiating. They are still negotiating, and it is possible that they can advance this process. I believe Türkiye has a lot to do on this issue. It is imperative that Fatah and Hamas are on good terms. When you talk about Hamas, you talk about Palestine. They are inseparable. We have to work to keep this unity," he said.
Answering a question about the state of post-conflict Gaza and if Fatah would lead the governance of the Hamas-run enclave, Erdoğan said their current concern was helping the people of Gaza by "evacuating the injured and the sick."
"If attacks end, our focus will be on rebuilding Gaza. We have to mobilize the Islamic world on this issue. We are ready to take on any task on that matter too," he said.
Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007 after a fallout with Fatah, the dominant force of the Palestinian Authority. The two movements have been at odds for years but also tried ways for reconciliation, including a series of talks mediated by other countries. After the new conflict erupted on Oct. 7, Fatah has been critical of Israeli attacks on the Palestinian territories. Amid a debate on the future of Gaza, largely devastated by constant Israeli attacks, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Palestinian Authority will not rule the enclave in the future.
Jibril Rajoub, secretary of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement told Daily Sabah earlier this month that the Palestinian Authority will not rule the enclave in the future. Rajoub, reiterating their support for the people of Gaza and Hamas, said any talks about the future will include Hamas.
On the "silence" of certain Muslim countries on the Palestine-Israel conflict, Erdoğan said everyone was responsible for what they've done. "We will continue working. This is our mission. We have to raise our voices for our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We attended the Riyadh summit (of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), we were in Doha for talks on Gaza. In our talks with some Muslim countries, we convey them our expectations to take different steps, new efforts," he said.
Sweden's NATO bid
On the highly anticipated pending approval of Sweden’s NATO membership by the Turkish Parliament, the president said the stand of the U.S. and Canada could contribute to this, noting that “positive developments” in F-16 sales to Türkiye would impact Parliament’s positive stance on NATO membership.
Erdoğan said Biden stated that he would have the U.S. Congress approval for F-16 sales after the Turkish Parliament ratifies Sweden's NATO bid. "If we operate this simultaneously, we will have the opportunity to pass this through Parliament much more easily," Erdoğan quoted Biden as telling him in their recent phone call.
"Another complicating factor in the parliamentary process is the negative stance of Canada and some allies on defense procurement. All of these are interconnected. Positive developments on both the F-16 issue with the U.S. and Canada's fulfillment of its promises will accelerate our Parliament's favorable view," the Turkish president added.
The president said Sweden gave Türkiye assurances in the NATO summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July, adding: "We are expecting these assurances to be fulfilled and closely monitoring the developments."
Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership shortly after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022. Although Türkiye approved Finland's NATO membership, it is waiting for Sweden to fulfill its commitments not to provide shelter to terrorists or supporters of terrorists and not to facilitate their actions. Erdoğan signed Sweden's NATO accession protocol and submitted it to Parliament in October for a ratification vote.
Türkiye is seeking to purchase from the U.S. the latest model F-16 Block 70 aircraft, as well as 79 modernization kits to upgrade its remaining F-16s to Block 70 level.
Ties with EU
Erdoğan also responded to a question about Türkiye's European Union accession bid. He said that the European Union would stall Ukraine and Moldova's accession to the EU, adding that Ankara had long earned the right to join the bloc but was being kept waiting for political reasons.
EU leaders agreed last week to open talks with Ukraine even as it continues to fight Russia, while also starting talks with Moldova. But the bloc could not agree on a 50 billion euro package of financial aid for Kyiv due to opposition from Hungary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the move as a "victory" for Ukraine and the European continent.
"Giving them candidate status does not mean they will become EU members. A process will start with them, they will be stalled too. None of these countries are a Türkiye," Erdoğan said.
"It is wrong for Türkiye, which is more ready to join the EU than some member states, to be kept waiting at the door for years due to political obstacles," he added.
Although membership would likely be years away, the decision at a summit in Brussels takes Ukraine a step closer to its long-term strategic goal of anchoring itself in the West and freeing itself from Moscow's orbit.
Erdoğan said Türkiye's "strategic and economic" potential had long earned it the right to join the bloc, which Ankara says is a strategic goal, and added that progress might be seen in this process during the term presidency of Hungary, with which Türkiye has good ties.
"The EU needs to turn back from this mistake now," he said.
