Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the massive Israeli air strikes on Gaza, calling them a mark of “disrespect” toward Ankara’s efforts to negotiate peace.
“I consider the action taken by Israel, while we are making so many efforts for peace, as delivering a blow to those peace initiatives,” the Anatolia news agency quoted Erdogan as saying.
Erdogan added that he had cancelled a telephone consultation with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was just in Ankara on Monday, and has called on the UN Security Council to intervene after the air strikes killed about 200 people in Gaza.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the air strikes on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and warned of the wider effect on the region.
“The events in Gaza will have a very great negative effect on regional stability,” it said in a statement.
“The high number of dead from the operation and the possible ...
