ANKARA
It is “very important” that Gaza remain the land of the Palestinian people, and that they ultimately govern the enclave, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists on his way back from Azerbaijan, where he attended an Organization of Turkic States summit, Erdogan said Türkiye’s priority is to “achieve an urgent and comprehensive ceasefire as soon as possible.”
“It is essential that humanitarian aid be delivered to Gaza without interruption. Restoring Gaza's infrastructure, destroyed by Israeli attacks, is also among our priorities. We are making intensive diplomatic efforts toward this end,” he said.
“It is extremely important that Gaza remain the land of the Palestinian people, and equally crucial that it ultimately be governed by Palestinians,” said Erdogan.
“The issue of how security will be ensured and how a stabilization force will be established and operated can be assessed in detail. I personally attach great importance to the negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh,” Egypt, he added, referring to talks on US President Trump’s ceasefire proposal.
He said Turkish National Intelligence Organization chief Ibrahim Kalin will also be at the negotiations and that the outcome of these talks carries great importance.
“When I said, ‘We will support every effort,’ I made this statement considering all possibilities. We hope Israel keeps its promises and does not take steps to sabotage this peace (effort). While we are hopeful for a lasting ceasefire and peace, we are also cautious,” he added.
Erdogan said that during his recent visit to the US and in a phone call this week with Trump, he explained how a solution could be achieved in Palestine.
On Trump's Gaza plan, Erdogan said: “Trump specifically asked us to talk to Hamas and persuade them, and we promptly got in touch with our interlocutors on this matter.”
“I told Trump that we support his efforts for peace. We also made this clear to the public. Hamas, in its response, conveyed to us that it is ready for peace and negotiations. In other words, it didn't engage in any contradictory rhetoric. In my opinion, this is a very valuable step,” he added.
On the Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla, which was attacked Israel by last week, Erdogan said Türkiye closely monitored the process with unmanned aerial vehicles and ships. The president said he personally monitored the aid mission's movements through drone footage.
“This flotilla made Israel’s unlawful blockade of Gaza visible. In that respect it is important. They succeeded in bringing their vessels carrying only humanitarian aid as far as Gaza’s territorial waters and breaking the blockade. To me, that is the most important aspect of the success,” he said.
Another aid convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week, part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, and detained more than 450 activists on board. Most of them have been deported.
Israel, as the occupying power, also previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo, and deported the activists on board.
It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and further tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 67,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it all but uninhabitable. Negotiations to end the war under a 20-point plan unveiled by Trump are underway in Egypt.
‘Syrian Democratic Forces must keep their promise and complete their integration with Syria’
Turning to Syria, the Turkish president said, referring to an agreement reached this March: “The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) must keep their promise and complete their integration with Syria.”
“We will never allow Syria to be slide back into instability. Türkiye is closely monitoring all developments on the ground. Our patient, prudent, and dignified stance should never be mistaken for weakness,” said Erdogan
The “Turkish-Kurdish-Arab alliance is key to lasting peace and tranquility in the region,” he added.
“No one should succumb to provocations or be swayed by false ambitions,” said Erdogan, adding: “Syria's territorial integrity is essential to us. We cannot accept any attitudes that defy it. Syrian President Ahmad Sharaa and his administration share our views. Türkiye will continue to stand with the Syrian people.”
On March 10, the Syrian presidency announced an agreement to integrate the SDF into state institutions, stressing the country’s territorial integrity and rejecting any separatist designs. The group, however, has violated the agreement more than once.
Since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad last December after 24 years in power, the Syrian government has stepped up measures to restore security across the country.
Assad fled to Russia, marking the end of the Baath Party rule since 1963. A transitional administration headed by Sharaa took office in January.
‘We hope in the end the F-35 issue will be resolved and the US’ CAATSA sanctions are lifted’
Erdogan said that there is cooperation between Türkiye and the US in the field of the defense industry, as in many other areas, and that negotiations on the F-35 fighter jets and the US’ CAATSA sanctions are continuing “to further develop these relations, and we expect positive results.”
“Türkiye is a partner in this (F-35) project, has paid for it, and has fulfilled its obligations. There is no legitimate basis for our removal from the program. Trump himself previously acknowledged this indirectly. Necessary technical discussions are being held at all levels to take concrete steps,” he said.
“We hope that, in the end, the F-35 issue will be resolved and the CAATSA sanctions will be lifted. This is something we must achieve. Our visit marked the beginning of a new era in Turkish-US relations, further strengthening the dialogue and friendship between our countries,” he added, referring to September’s Erdogan-Trump meeting at the White House.
In 2019, during Trump’s first term, the US suspended Türkiye from the F-35 program after objecting to it buying an S-400 missile defense system, claiming the Russian system would endanger the fighter jets.
Türkiye has said repeatedly that there is no conflict between the two and proposed a commission to study the issue. Türkiye also said it fulfilled its obligations on the F-35s and that the suspension broke the rules. Ankara maintains that ending this impasse would strengthen not only Türkiye, but also NATO.
Last year, the US State Department approved the pending $23 billion sale of F-16 aircraft and modernization kits to Türkiye. Talks on details of the deal have been continuing.
Türkiye was sanctioned under CAATSA, or Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, in 2020 for purchasing Russia’s S-400 missile defense system.
On the legal case of Turkish lender Halkbank in the US, Erdogan said: “Both during our meetings in the US and in our last phone call, Trump said that the Halkbank issue is over for us. This is, of course, a significant statement of political will and is valuable.”
“On the other hand, we’re aware that there are still some processes that need to be completed. Our hope is that these processes will be concluded positively as soon as possible,” he added.
On Monday, the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Halkbank to review a lower court ruling that the public lender was not immune to prosecution under common law.
Halkbank was indicted in 2019 in the US on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to help Iran evade US sanctions. The bank has denied the charges.