Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday welcomed the successful conclusion of ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Egypt. In a message on social media, Erdoğan stressed that Turkey had actively participated in the talks, while reaffirming his commitment to continue working for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.
“I am deeply pleased that the talks between Hamas and Israel held in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, in which Turkey also participated, have concluded with a ceasefire in Gaza,” Erdoğan said on 9 October in a statement reported by the Turkish news agency Anatolia. The Turkish president also expressed his gratitude to US President Donald Trump for showing the necessary will to convince Israel to accept the agreement, and also thanked Qatar and Egypt for their key role in the mediation.
Erdoğan further stressed that Turkey will closely follow the full implementation of the agreement and will continue to support efforts to ensure lasting stability in the region. “Likewise, we will continue our struggle until an independent and sovereign Palestinian state is established, with territorial integrity, based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he added.
Trump thanks Turkey for mediating with Hamas
His remarks came just hours after President Donald Trump announced that the parties had reached the “first phase” of a deal that has meant a significant breakthrough in the Gaza war, which marked two years ago this week. Under the peace plan proposed by Trump and accepted by both sides, Hamas will in the coming days release the 20 Israeli hostages still alive in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, while the Israeli army will begin withdrawing from most of the Strip. Trump thanked all the mediators, including Turkey, “who worked with us to make this historic and unprecedented event happen”.
The 20-point peace plan was presented on 29 September and includes the release of Israeli hostages, a ceasefire and the disarmament of Hamas, which the Palestinian group accepted in principle. Since October 2023, the Israeli offensive has killed at least 67,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, leaving the Gaza Strip devastated and virtually uninhabitable.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported that the three Turkish MPs detained by Israel are now on their way back to their country after being sent to Azerbaijan. In addition, 18 other Turkish citizens who were detained by Israeli forces after the boarding of the new Gaza-bound flotilla were transferred to the Ketziot detention centre, where Turkish consular officials are scheduled to meet them.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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