Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday (September 7, 2024) said Islamic countries should form an alliance against what he called “the growing threat of expansionism” from Israel.

He made the comment after describing what Palestinian and Turkish officials said was the killing by Israeli troops of a Turkish-American woman taking part in a protest on Friday against settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Also read | Turkey’s Erdogan says ‘spirit of United Nations dead in Gaza’

“The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries,” Mr. Erdogan said at an Islamic schools’ association event near Istanbul.

He said recent steps that Turkey has taken to improve ties with Egypt and Syria are aimed at “forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism,” which he said also threatened Lebanon and Syria.

Mr. Erdogan hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Ankara this week and they discussed the Gaza war and ways to further repair their long-frozen ties during what was the first such presidential visit in 12 years.

Ties between them started thawing in 2020 when Turkey began diplomatic efforts to ease tensions with estranged regional rivals, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Erdogan said in July that Turkey would extend an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “any time” for possible talks to restore relations between the two neighbours, who severed ties in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.

Israel did not immediately comment on Mr. Erdogan’s remarks on Saturday.

Israel’s military said after Friday’s incident that it was looking into reports that a female foreign national “was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review.

There was no immediate comment on Friday’s incident from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, talks with U.S. President Joe Biden during a working session on AI, Energy, Africa and Mideast, at the G7, on June 14, 2024, in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari, southern Italy.
| Photo Credit: AP

Türkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan said on June 15 that U.S. President Joe Biden is undergoing “a test of sincerity” in his handling of the Gaza war.

In an interview with reporters on his way back from the G7 Summit in Italy, Mr. Erdogan said Mr. Biden is expected to demonstrate that the Gaza ceasefire plan is not a calculated electoral tactic but a sincere effort to end the war.

He also said that Germany softened its stance on the sales of Eurofightesr jets to Türkiye. In November, Türkiye said the country was in talks with Britain and Spain to buy Eurofighter Typhoons, though Germany objected the idea. “Eurofighters are important to us,” he added.

Mr. Erdogan also said that inflation will be put on a more favourable position in the final quarter with the steps to be taken on interest rates.

“Policies aimed at rebalancing the economy are bearing fruit,” Erdogan said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that the terrorists who carried out a bomb attack in front of the Interior Ministry in Ankara failed in their “latest attempt” to threaten citizens’ peace and security.

They “have not achieved their goals and will never achieve them,” he told members of parliament, adding in the speech that Turkey will continue to ensure that its southern borders are secure from outside militants.