Israel must end attacks on Palestinians for better ties with Turkey: Turkish FM
ANKARA
Israel must end its policies that entrench upon the rights of Palestinians, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on June 2, stressing that it was the only way Turkey could have good ties with the country.
Forming a government is part of the internal affairs of Israel, and Turkey has nothing to say about it, but the crucial issue is its policies towards Palestinians, Çavuşoğlu said while speaking at a joint conference with Robert Dussey, the foreign minister of Togo.
“First and foremost, Israel must give up its wrong policies to have healthy relations with us. It must stop attacks against Palestinians,” the minister said.
He added Israel also must give up its steps that would “corrode” the two-state solution and that they should return to the peace process.
The minister emphasized that Israel recently accelerated illegal settlements in Palestinian territories.
“They continue seizing lands of Palestinians,” he said, recalling the recent acts of Israel in this bid.
Israel also must give up policies that corrode the status of Jerusalem, the minister said, adding, “We can’t establish good relations if it continues these policies.”
If Israel respects the rights of Palestinians, their relations will get better not only with Turkey but also with other states, he said, noting that the international community also had the same expectations.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry slammed Israel’s new project to build settler units in the Beit El settlement near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The continuing of such provocations while the suffering in Gaza is still fresh shows that the Israeli authorities have not taken any lessons from the incident that took place, said the statement on June 2.
“We reject these illegal practices of Israel,” the ministry added while noting the necessity of holding Israel accountable for its policies and practices “that constitute a violation of international law.”
Israeli ministers on June 1 laid the foundation stone for a new project to build 350 settler units in the Beit El settlement.
