ANKARA —
Turkey said Tuesday that its
restoration of full diplomatic relations with Israel did not mean a shift in
Middle Eastern allegiances as it warmly welcomed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
اضافة اعلان
The Palestinian leader met
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks and a private dinner on his second visit to Turkey in a year.
The talks came just a week after Turkey and Israel
sealed a rapprochement from a decade of rocky relations by announcing plans to
reappoint ambassadors for the first time in four years.
Erdogan has been a fervent supporter of the
Palestinian cause who has branded Israel a “terrorist state”.
He held the veteran Palestinian leader by the hand
while gingerly walking him down a turquoise carpet to his presidential palace
before a welcoming guard.
“The steps taken in our relations with Israel will
in no way diminish our support for the Palestinian cause,” Erdogan later told a
joint media event.
“Turkey defends its vision of a two-state solution
on every platform, and we have clearly demonstrated our response to the Israeli
attacks and civilian casualties.”
Abbas did not mention Turkish-Israeli relations in
his comments but thanked Erdogan for his past support.
“I would like to thank you for the close attention
and hospitality you have shown us,” Abbas told Erdogan.
“I would like to reiterate my gratitude for the fact
that Turkey and the Turkish government are on the side of Palestine.”
Abbas’s visit is widely seen as an attempt by Turkey
to show that it stood by old allies even as it repairs relations with more
recent rivals.
Turkey has gradually mended fences across the
volatile region as it seeks new deals and investments to help recover from its
most profound economic crisis in more than two decades.
The warming with
Israel is accompanied by plans to
restore direct flights by Israeli airlines between the two countries that could
bring in more tourists to Turkey’s resorts.
Turkey is also hoping to revive an east
Mediterranean natural gas pipeline project that won tentative backing from the
US last year.
Cavusoglu said Palestinian leaders also “want our
relations with Israel to be normalized”.
“They also know that thanks to this dialogue, we
will better defend the Palestinian cause,” he said.
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