Turkey is not taken seriously in the Middie East due to the ruling Justice and Development party's foreign policy, Turkey's opposition party leader Devlet Bahceli said Thursday.
The comments of Bahceli, the head of the the Nationalist Movement Party, came after the Palestinian death toll from Israel's devastating military offensive against the Gaza Strip rose to 732.
"While Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushes hard on Israel in his comments, on the other hand, he reinforces and enhances trade relations with the country," said Bahceli.
At a press conference at his party's headquarters on Thursday, he said Erdogan is not taking any concrete steps to alleviate the situation in Gaza but merely criticizes Israel.
Bahceli stated Erdogan has lost his credibility and respectability in foreign policy, and added although Turkey is in the middle of regional developments, it cannot get involved in issues because of him.
He also said international law is violated in Gaza, where people are falling victim to massacres.
Bahceli emphasized no one can remain silent without permanent peace, stability, and an end to the bloodshed.
Since July 7, Israel has pummeled the Gaza Strip with fierce air and naval bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting Palestinian rocket fire.
Last week, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending thousands of troops into the embattled coastal enclave.
Israel's "Operation Protective Edge" is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populated strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
www.aa.com.tr/en
