President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken with Pope Francis over the violence in Gaza and has urged the head of the Catholic Church to support sanctions against Israel. The revelation was made in a statement on social media by the Presidency of Turkey.
During the call, Erdogan emphasised that “Israel’s attacks concerned not only the Palestinians but all the Muslims, all the Christians and the entire humanity.”
The Turkish President highlighted the recent clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque to claim that Israel’s actions threatened regional peace. He also said that access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was also blocked. Significantly, Erdogan sought Christian support for sanctions against Israel.
The statement said, “Further stressing that the Palestinians would continue to be massacred unless the international community punished Israel, which had been committing a crime against humanity, with due sanctions, President Erdogan highlighted the great importance of the messages and reactions Pope Francis would continue to give in terms of mobilizing the Christian world and the international community.”
Erdogan also took subtle jibes at the Joe Biden administration after the USA blocked a joint statement by the UN Security Council urging ceasefire three times in a week.
The statement said, “Pointing out that the international community should give Israel the deterrent reaction and lesson it deserved and take concrete steps to that end, President Erdogan stated that Turkey devoted all its efforts to that aim and was carrying out intensive diplomacy efforts in all relevant international platforms, the United Nations in particular, but that the Security Council had yet to display the required awareness of responsibility.”
Violence has continued to rock the region as the Israel-Palestine conflict continues unabated. India has condemned the spate of violence at both ends and has called for immediate de-escalation.