Turkish foreign minister appeals to Israel to heed calls for peace

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan appealed to Israel on Friday (October 27) to “heed Turkey's call for peace,” warning that the country could find itself in a growing spiral of violence.

Speaking during a joint news conference with Denmark's foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Fidan said: “Humanity is at a crossroads. Either there will be a great war that will spread all over the world, or a great peace will emerge.”

Fidan continued: “Ignoring the existence of the Palestinians, ignoring the rights of the Palestinians, and applying pressure and cruelty to the Palestinians have not — and will not — bring peace to Israel. If Israel wants to be in peace and security, it must respect the right of the Palestinians to live in their own state on their own land.”

Rasmussen defined Hamas as a terrorist organisation in an apparent rebuke of Turkish President Recep Tayyip who earlier this week described the militant group as “liberation fighters.”

Fidan said Turkey regards Hamas as a political party “that is part of the Palestinian state system,” but added that this did not mean that Ankara “accepts the killing of civilians.”