Turkey

ANKARA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's Foreign Ministry condemned on Monday "in the strongest terms" what it said was an Israeli attack on the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza.

"There can be no justification for such an attack on the only cancer hospital in Gaza, since all necessary information, including the coordinates of the institution in question, was shared with the Israeli authorities in advance," the ministry said in a statement.

Israeli airstrikes severely damaged the Turkish-funded hospital, according to the Palestinian health authorities in Gaza.

30 October 2023; MEMO: The Turkish Red Crescent, on Monday, “strongly” condemned heavy bombing that rendered the Palestinian Red Crescent’s aid warehouse in Gaza unusable, Anadolu Agency reports.

ISTANBUL, October 28. /TASS/: Turkey will declare Israel a war criminal and will do it before the entire international community, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said at a mass rally in support of Palestine held at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.

"We are going to declare Israel a war criminal. We will inform the international community, as we have already been working on it," he said.

Erdogan lambasted Israel as an invader and a group, pointing out that the Palestinian movement Hamas is not a terrorist organization.

25 October 2023; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Wednesday that he had cancelled a plan to visit Israel in light of the ongoing Gaza conflict, Anadolu Agency reports.

At the Justice and Development (AK) Party’s parliamentary group meeting in Ankara, Erdogan said that before 7 October, when the conflict erupted, he had planned to visit Israel but then cancelled his plans.

ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in his strongest comments yet on the Gaza conflict, said on Wednesday the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian lands.

NATO member Turkey condemned the civilian deaths caused by Hamas's Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel, but also urged Israeli forces to act with restraint in their response. Ankara has strongly criticised Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

ANKARA, October 24. /TASS/: The conflict in the Middle East is escalating, causing more and more casualties among civilians in the Gaza Strip, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday.

ANKARA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday submitted a bill approving Sweden's NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification, the presidency said, in a move welcomed by Stockholm that clears the way for it to join the Western defence alliance.

Erdogan pleased his NATO allies at a summit in July by promising to send the legislation to parliament when it reopened on Oct. 1, having previously raised objections over Sweden's alleged harbouring of terrorists.

ISTANBUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed humanitarian aid for Gaza over the phone with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, local media reported Sunday.

Erdogan told Haniyeh that "Türkiye is making efforts to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza and that the injured can be treated in Türkiye when necessary," NTV television reported, citing Erdogan's office.

Erdogan said Türkiye was working for a "ceasefire in the region as soon as possible" and reiterated his country's position regarding the conflict.

ANKARA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Turkish protesters clashed with police overnight in angry demonstrations following a blast that killed large numbers of Palestinians at a Gaza hospital, and further rallies were expected on Wednesday.

Palestinian officials said the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital was caused by an Israeli air strike. Israel blamed the blast on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.

President Tayyip Erdogan called the blast "the latest example of Israeli attacks devoid of the most basic human values".

ISTANBUL, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Tuesday rounded up 17 suspects accused of transferring money to Islamic State (IS) members in a large-scale operation in Istanbul, local media reported.

Authorities found that the suspects were illegally transferring money between Türkiye and conflict zones through companies and individuals, the private news agency Demiroren said.