Türkiye ready for any kind of mediation between Israel, Palestine: President Erdogan

By Diyar Guldogan

Ankara is ready to undertake a mediator role in the current Israeli-Palestinian tension, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

"I would like to state that Türkiye is ready for any kind of mediation, including prisoner exchanges, if the parties request it," Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

Türkiye also calls on Israel to stop its bombing of Palestinian lands and urged Palestinians to stop their harassment of civilian settlements in Israel, the president added.

"The destruction of Gaza by air and ground attacks, the bombing of mosques, and the deaths of innocent children, women, elderly, and civilians are never acceptable," Erdogan stressed.

Türkiye is also making necessary preparations to supply humanitarian aid materials that the people of the Gaza Strip will need, he added, referring to devastation from Israeli airstrikes and the destruction of infrastructure there.

"We believe that there will be no peace in the region without the establishment of an independent, sovereign state of Palestine with geographical integrity, within the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital," Erdogan reiterated.

Ankara strongly supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, including the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Earlier Monday, Erdogan held separate phone calls both with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the latest situation in the region.