Stop Palestinian suffering for Mideast peace, says Erdoğan

Peace cannot be established in the Middle East when the suffering of the Palestinians continues and the Gaza Strip remains a wreck, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday.

Speaking at the Istanbul Forum organized by Stratim, Seta and the German Marshall Fund, Erdoğan said the Palestinian question is at the center of all problems in the Middle East. The prime minister recalled that Turkey vocalized its disapproval of the previous year's bombing of the Gaza Strip, adding: “We criticized steps that were serving no purpose, but which increased suffering and sabotaged the peace process. We will continue to criticize it today, too. We will criticize anything similar taking place in other areas.”

Recalling that nine months had passed since Israel’s deadly offensive on Gaza, Erdoğan said the tragedy continues because reconstruction materials have not been permitted into the devastated region so that rebuilding can begin. “We cannot ignore this tragedy. The blockade against Gaza should be lifted as soon as possible,” he said.

Erdoğan said the international community should uphold its commitments, which will benefit not only Palestinians, but also Israelis. “I do not say this just because I am Muslim. I say this because I am human and because of my humanitarian approach,” he said. His statement received brief applause from Turkish members of the audience, which also included Jewish officials and academics.

Iran nuclear program:

Without mentioning its name, Erdoğan also targeted Israel who is known to have nuclear weapons while commenting on Iran's nuclear program. “Iran's nuclear program should not be the only one under focus, other countries possessing nuclear weapons should be questioned as well,” Erdoğan said. “We are doing our utmost to improve our relations with Iran. I firmly believe that the international community's concern over Iran's nuclear program should be eased.”

Turkey is determined to do whatever it could on the Iranian issue, said Erdoğan. “Yet, Iran's right for nuclear power with peaceful purposes should not be questioned either. We have a clear position on nuclear armament. We want a region free of nuclear arms. We do not want nuclear arms in our region. We don't want weapons of mass destruction in our region.”

Meanwhile, Erdoğan also said all financial resources allocated to defense and armaments should be allocated to fight against poverty. “Not only Iran but those countries with nuclear arms or the ones who are aspiring to have nuclear arms should also be questioned,” Erdoğan said.