UPDATE - Türkiye 'key country' for solving crises in region, says President Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye is the "key country" for solving the crises in the region, the Turkish president said on Sunday.

“Türkiye is the country that offers the most applicable suggestions to solve the problems. Türkiye is the key country for solving the crises and problems in the region," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Sunday aboard the presidential plane returning from the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he attended the Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit.

"It is the only country that can meet with all the countries in our geography and gather the conflicting and warring parties at the same table," he stressed.

Erdogan added that he will continue to talk to each actor who wants to contact Türkiye for a sincere solution.

"Our effort is to protect human life, ensure peace, end wars, and wipe off the tears of the innocent," he noted.

Erdogan reiterated that Türkiye is ready to take responsibility as a guarantor for the solution's implementation.

"In coordination with our friends in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, we will continue to do our part to prevent further bloodshed,” he noted.

Regarding the voting at the UN General Assembly in New York, Erdogan said by initiating telephone diplomacy, he wanted to convince the abstaining countries to adopt a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

“Are there any of those (countries) who abstain that we can attract to our side? We are in search of this, and I want to review it. I want to initiate an intensive telephone diplomacy following the Riyadh summit,” Erdogan told the reporters.

More than 121 countries voted at the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday to adopt an Arab resolution calling for the war on Gaza to end and for humanitarian aid to be allowed to flow into the battered territory. Only 14 countries voted against it, one of which was the US.

The resolution was approved by 121 member countries, and Erdogan expressed "hope" about the outcome.

”I find this decision, which reflects the approach of the vast majority of the international community, important and valuable. While implementing the decision, the Islamic world must be one body and one voice,” he added.

Noting that Israel is committing war crimes by targeting refugee camps, hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, and even ambulances in the Gaza Strip, he said the international community needs to take action against the Israeli massacre in Gaza, adding that the UN Security Council is once again inactive.

Erdogan stressed that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a group of people fighting for their homeland.

He also underlined the importance of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi operating the Rafah border crossing despite all negativities.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip – including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship – since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 11,100 Palestinians have been killed, including 8,000 children and women since the start of the conflict.

The Israeli death toll is nearly 1,200, according to official figures.