As Today’s Zaman reports, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has made a surprise offer and suggested that Turkey and Israel hold bilateral talks to end the escalating crisis in Gaza despite the rift between the two nations. Arınç told reporters on Thursday that Turkey expects Israel to immediately halt the attacks on Gaza, which have left at least 20 Palestinians dead, including many civilians and infants. He added that these attacks have no moral and legal basis.
The latest upsurge in the long-running conflict between Israel and Gaza came on Wednesday when Israel killed Jaabari in a precision air strike on his car. Israel then began shelling the coastal enclave from land, air and sea. Noting that Turkey will make every effort in this regard, Arınç recalled that relations between Turkey and Israel are now frozen.
Davutoğlu told reporters in Djibouti, where he traveled to attend the foreign ministers meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday, that Israel had once again displayed its aggressiveness by attacking Gaza on Wednesday night.
Ankara wants an official apology from Israel for the raid and calls for the lifting of the Gaza blockade, but both demands have so far been rejected by the Israeli government. With tensions increased, Turkey has expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended military agreements it had with the country.
