ANKARA
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a speech at the Turkish parliament as part of a visit in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
Abbas pays his first trip abroad since the UN raised Palestine's status to "non-member observer state" earlier this month and Turkey was a staunch supporter for the Palestinian bid for the upgrade.
"Things we do now are just the beginning not the result. We still have a long and a tough road ahead. But we are marching on the right path. We are marching towards a fully independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and with God's willing the capital of that state will be Jerusalem," Abbas told the Turkish MPs.
Abbas expressed gratitude for the Turkish president, government and the Turkish people for their support to the Palestinian cause, saying that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's visit to New York on the occasion of the UN voting on status upgrade was the latest show of the Turkish support.
"Mr Davutoglu was there not just as an ordinary visitor but someone who played an active role by communicating to all countries, spending the maximum effort for the status upgrade," Abbas said.
Abbas asked Turkey and "all brotherly countries" to exert efforts for the removal of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, saying that Israeli government planned to build thousands of the new settlements in Jerusalem and around.
"If this happens, we will no doubt respond in different ways. We will protect our people, our lands and sacred places in the best way we can by applying to international institutions," Abbas said.
"Today, we want to give peace a chance. We call on Israel to fulfill its obligations, which is to stop expanding settlements, release [Palestinian] prisoners and resume in specific timetable the talks that were abandoned in 2008."
