By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- As each month passes, Israel’s far-right coalition government remains more entrenched than ever in a Gaza war and the hostages being held there, are left behind. Despite widespread global condemnation of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza, the hostages are no closer to being released and no ceasefire is imminent. As Turkiye’s MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said on Tuesday, “Many innocents were massacred in the May 26 attack [in Rafah]. Harmless and innocent people who were trying to survive in the tent camps were attacked and burned. There is no word to describe this massacre in our dictionary.” Meanwhile, on May 27, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that EU foreign ministers have had a “significant” discussion on sanctioning Israel if it refuses to comply with international humanitarian law. Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said: “The most important thing is to give Palestine not only support but also freedom and a state with sovereignty.” Fidan who is in Brussels, spoke at the International Partners Meeting and a meeting with the Gaza Contact Group to discuss an implementation of a two-state solution. Fidan is also there to hold talks with the EU on the Palestinian issue. He explained the main message Turkiye wants to convey is that Palestine must take control of its own state and initiative. He added that depriving the Palestinians of sovereignty and economic initiative while keeping it a political entity, just relying on aid, benefits no one, especially not the Palestinian people. Fidan said that delaying recognizing Palestine as a state does not solve the problem but just allows Israel to keep on doing what it’s doing which has already displaced over 800,000 Palestinians from Rafah, destroyed most of Gaza including all the universities and left innocent civilians in a state of abject famine and “hell on earth” as the head of the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini stated.
On May 28, Spain, Norway and Ireland, officially recognized Palestine as a state. As Fidan commented: “The fact that Spain, Norway, Ireland and Slovenia have recognized Palestine as a state, this bringing the number of states recognizing Palestine to 150, is a very important point.” Fidan added: “Right now, the world knows the problem in Gaza and the problem in Ramallah.” But he asked: “After accepting the two-state solution, how do we move on from there?” He said the answer to this question was under discussion with participating countries in the meetings. The Turkish foreign minister made it clear that this situation calls for a different approach to achieve a positive outcome and that Palestine needs to be referred to as a “government” not an “authority.” He also made it clear that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must recognize Palestine in all ways: “It is extremely important that a structure recognized as a state by 150 countries be recognized immediately by the U.N. Security Council.” Fidan added: “The 1967 borders must never fade from people’s memories or official documents. The Netanyahu administration is trying to convince the world that the 1967 borders have disappeared and there is only Israel.” He qualified that after October 7, the world was made aware of Israel’s actions in Gaza and of “deceptions, propaganda and lies. There is currently a collective, systematic, gradual and qualified uprising.” Fidan further noted: “As Turkiye and our allies, we are striving to carry out this uprising in a professional and systematic manner.”
Photo : AA
