Islamic countries should form alliance against Israel: Tayyip Erdogan

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

He said the only step that would stop Israeli arrogance, banditry and state terrorism was the alliance of Islamic countries.

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.

Only way to stop Israeli arrogance

The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, banditry and state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries. Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish president

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He said recent steps that Turkey had taken to improve ties with Egypt and Syria were aimed at forming a line of solidarity against the growing threat of expansionism that also threatened Lebanon and Syria. 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.

Erdogan said that 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 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.