Turkey says normalizing relations with Israel does not imply changes in the Palestinian cause

Erdogan meets this Tuesday with Abbas

23 (EUROPE PRESS)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel does not mean that Turkey will change its policy on the Palestinian cause or change its position on the Al Aqsa Mosque.

“Both the side of the president of the Palestinian Authority (Mahmud Abbas) and the side of Hamas, want our relations with Israel to be normalized. Through dialogue, we will better defend the Palestinian cause. This should not mean that Turkey makes concessions to the Palestinian cause,” he explained in an interview with the Turkish channel Haber Global.

Israel announced the full restoration of diplomatic relations with Turkey last week by appointing ambassadors after a break of more than ten years that was triggered by the death in 2010 of ten activists in the Israeli assault on the ship ‘Mavi Marmara’.

The rapprochement occurred after last March, the presidents of Israel and Turkey, Isaac Herzog and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, respectively, ensured that the former’s official visit to Ankara, the first in more than ten years to the country by a Israeli leader, was a “turning point” between nations.

“As we always say, we will continue to defend the rights of Palestine, Jerusalem and Gaza. It will also be important to convey our messages on this issue to Tel Aviv at the ambassadorial level,” the Turkish foreign minister stressed at the time.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday at the presidential compound in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Abbas landed in Ankara on Monday and was received by several Turkish officials, as well as ambassadors accredited to Turkey and the staff of the Palestinian Embassy in the capital, according to the WAFA news agency.

The president of the Palestinian Authority is accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riyad Al Malki, the Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey, Faed Mustafa, as well as various advisers to the Presidency.