At a time of growing recognition of the State of Palestine in Europe and the rise of the far-right with the recent European Parliament elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is engaged in a diplomatic blitz in the continent. The president flew to Spain on Wednesday and will attend a G-7 summit in Italy later this week.
His two-day visit to Spain was scheduled to start with an audience with King Felipe VI. Sabah newspaper reported that Erdoğan would focus his talks in Spain related to the Palestine-Israel conflict on the promotion of recognition of Palestine as a way to a peace deal to end the violence in the Middle East and to encourage efforts in the international community for a two-state solution.
On June 14, Erdoğan will be in Italy for the G-7 summit he was invited by the host Italy. Italy has also sent an invitation to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for the summit that will bring together leaders of Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Japan and Canada for a more comprehensive perspective on global challenges. Developments related to Gaza will also be among the important topics on the agenda of the G-7 summit. Erdoğan will hold talks with heads of state on the margins of the summit on necessary steps to end the conflict.
Türkiye is the only country in Europe unconditionally supporting Palestinians in the face of Israeli aggression and defines Hamas, which controls Gaza, as a resistance group, unlike most Western countries, which brands it terrorists. Since the new round of conflict broke out in October 2023, the country, under the leadership of Erdoğan, sought to defuse tensions and implementation of a lasting cease-fire. As the death toll from Israel’s indiscriminate bombings in the Palestinian enclave steadily climbed, Türkiye stepped up its rhetoric against the Netanyahu administration it once sought to cooperate with to mend frail ties between Israel and Türkiye.
Around 144 out of 193 member-states of the United Nations recognize Palestine as a state, including most of the global south, Russia, China and India. But only a handful of the 27 EU members have done so, so far, mostly former Communist countries as well as Sweden and the Greek Cypriot administration.
Britain, Australia and EU member Malta have indicated in recent months that they could soon follow suit.
Recognition of a Palestinian state is still opposed for now by Israel’s closest ally the United States, which has the power to veto it at the United Nations and did so last month.
Washington says it favors Palestinian statehood eventually, but only as a result of negotiations with Israel, a position it shares with European powers, including France and Germany.
No negotiations over Palestinian statehood have taken place since the last round of talks collapsed a decade ago.
Türkiye seeks to convince world powers to join it for a permanent solution to the ongoing conflict and Erdoğan made personal visits and held phone calls with leaders of the countries with a say over the matter, from Qatar and Egypt to Saudi Arabia and Russia to mobilize the international community. It particularly aims to drum up support from regional countries and urge them to take more responsibility to stop Israel’s brutal attacks, through diplomacy and isolating Israel. It also joined other countries in holding Israel to account for its “genocide” in Gaza, following South Africa that brought the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Meeting with UNRWA chief
Also on Wednesday, Erdoğan met with Philippe Lazzarini, the general commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), at the Presidential Complex in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Erdoğan and Lazzarini held a closed-door meeting, the president’s office said, without elaborating. The meeting likely tackled Israel’s deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip and the U.N. aid agency’s efforts in the blockaded enclave.
Lazzarini recently said, “There is no alternative to the humanitarian organization for the badly needed humanitarian response in Gaza,” where Israel has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians and created conditions of famine in just over eight months.
Many countries had suspended aid to the U.N. agency over Israeli allegations linking its staffers to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack. But most of the key donors resumed aid after an independent review of the UNRWA found that Israel had not provided any evidence to back its claims.