Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Islamic countries to unite against the “threat of expansionism” from Israel. His statement came after an incident in Judea and Samaria, where Israeli troops killed a Turkish-American woman protesting against Israeli settlement expansion.
Erdogan, speaking at an event of Islamic schools in the Istanbul suburbs, said the only way to stop “Israeli arrogance and state terrorism” is to create a union of Islamic countries. He said Turkey is taking steps to strengthen relations with Egypt and Syria to create a united front against threats posed by Israel that also affect other countries in the region such as Lebanon and Syria.
Erdogan met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Ankara this week. This was the first such meeting in the past 12 years and discussed ways to further restore relations and the situation in the Gaza Strip. Improving relations with Egypt and other regional partners is part of Turkey’s strategy to reduce tensions in the region, which have escalated since 2020.
Earlier, Kursor wrote that Erdogan had submitted an official request for Turkey to join BRICS and that the vote on this issue could take place as early as October. This step, according to Bloomberg, is due to the long and fruitless negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the European Union, which have lasted for almost 20 years. Turkey has not been able to come close to EU accession, which, according to the expert, gives Erdogan a feeling of injustice.
