By Merve Berker and Aykut Yilmaz
Trade relations between Türkiye and Bahrain have “great potential,” the Turkish parliament speaker said on Monday.
As part of his visit to Bahrain, Numan Kurtulmus met with Ahmed bin Salman Al Musallam, the speaker of Bahrain’s Council of Representatives, according to a statement from the Turkish Parliament.
"The 50th year of Türkiye-Bahrain relations is behind us. Now we want to talk about further goals in the second 50 years. In addition to President Erdogan's efforts in the relations between the two countries, we, as parliaments, should endeavor to improve these relations. It is important to strengthen the relations between parliaments,” Kurtulmus said.
Recalling that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has applied for membership in the Asian Football Confederation, Kurtulmus said that the confederation's administrator is an official from Bahrain and stressed that they are looking for support on this issue.
"Unfortunately, despite all the positive efforts, the TRNC has been subjected to the punishments of the West,” he said, adding: "We need to support the recognition of the TRNC by providing support on international platforms."
Kurtulmus also conveyed Ankara’s gratitude for Bahrain’s stance against Israel's “inhumane massacres against Palestine.”
He hoped that “an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital will be established.”
Emphasizing that it is necessary to work together on three important issues, Kurtulmus said that the first one is the isolation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’ government.
“The second area is the subject of humanity. People of different faiths all over the world are opposing this persecution and saying 'enough is enough',” he said.
“The third issue is the situation of the Islamic countries,” the Turkish parliament speaker said, adding: “Israel's greatest strength is not the means it has, the weapons or the support behind it, but the disorder of the Islamic countries and their inability to show will together."
For his part, Al Musallam also stressed that they aimed to take the political, diplomatic and economic relations between Bahrain and Türkiye to higher levels.
He expressed support for Ankara's efforts for Palestine on international platforms, and said that Manama also act in the same manner.
He said that the solution for the Palestinian issues lies in the establishment of a fully independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, adding that Bahrain opposes displacement of Palestinians from their lands.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas last October.
The onslaught has killed more than 26,000 people, mostly women and children, displaced 85% of the blockaded enclave's population, and created conditions for famine. Israel says 1,200 people were killed in the initial Hamas attack.
The International Court of Justice, in its interim ruling in the genocide case filed by South Africa, ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians.
Tel Aviv also has to submit a report to the ICJ on all measures taken to give effect to this order within one month.