Turkey has said it is planning in cooperation with Palestinian officials a campaign to seek recognition of a Palestinian state at an annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20, pledging that Turkey will continue to support in every way such a diplomatic struggle.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint news briefing with Nabil Shaath, a senior official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, that Turkey is jointly planning the campaign for Palestinian statehood in the UN General Assembly and that both countries had already reviewed voting patterns country by country during Abbas’ visit to Turkey last month. He also said Turkey will continue its efforts in this regard until the end and that it will work to win the most votes possible.
Shaath’s visit to Turkey comes at a critical time when Turkey severed ties with Israel by expelling its ambassador and suspending all military agreements between the two countries as Israel refused to offer an apology for the Mavi Marmara incident. Shaath and Davutoglu had talks on Monday when the Turkish foreign minister said officials discussed the recognition campaign for Palestinians at the UN along with other affairs.
Davutoglu said Turkey’s position on the recognition of Palestine as a state is very “clear and obvious.” “[To seek statehood at the UN] is a late decision. Palestinian people are completely right in demanding their own state, sovereignty and recognition by the world similar to other honorable nations and their demand must be absolutely endorsed,” Davutoglu said.
The United States has indicated it will veto any Palestinian statehood vote in the absence of a negotiated Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Palestinians hope a UN vote in their favor would isolate Israel and put heavy pressure on Israelis to withdraw from captured territories.
“Recognition of a Palestinian state is not a favor for the Palestinians, it is the Palestinian people’s most natural right and our debt to them,” Davutoglu said. “It is time to pay the debt.”
Davutoglu said the second issue he discussed with Shaath is the latest situation in Turkish-Israeli relations and the decisions Turkey had made. He said Shaath thanked Turkey for its determinant position against Israel.
The UN report on the flotilla called the May 31, 2010 Israeli raid “excessive and unreasonable,” but also claimed that due to Israel’s security concerns; its blockade over Gaza is legal. The UN panel also blamed Turkey and the flotilla’s organizers for contributing to the deaths. The 105-page report said the killing of eight Turkish activists and an American was “unacceptable.”
On Friday, Turkey downgraded its diplomatic ties with Israel to the level of second secretary and gave the ambassador and other high-level diplomats until Wednesday to leave the country after the UN report on the flotilla called the May 31, 2010 Israeli raid “excessive and unreasonable,” yet also claimed that due to Israel’s security concerns its blockade of Gaza is legal. In other measures against Israel, Turkey suspended military agreements, promised to back legal action against Israel by the raid victims’ families and vowed to take steps to ensure freedom to navigate in the eastern Mediterranean.
Davutoglu said keeping Gaza and the West Bank under occupation is already illegal and that it is unacceptable to see the blockade over an illegally occupied territory as legal. On Saturday, Davutoglu said Turkey would start procedures to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands.
He said to end the illegal blockade of Gaza, Turkey will continue its legal struggle in the international sphere. Noting that Shaath was also briefed on the steps Turkey will be taking regarding Israel, Davutoglu said he shared his views about a UN General Assembly decision to take Israel to the ICJ.
Davutoglu said Turkey is wrapping up its efforts to challenge Israel’s Gaza blockade in the ICJ and that he had received the support of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
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