Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls on Palestinians to unite after meeting with Hamas chief

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following his meeting with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday (Apr 20) called on the Palestinians to unite amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

As per the Turkish media reports, the talks that took place between the Turkish President and Hamas chief, at the Dolmabahce palace, on the banks of the Bosphorus strait, lasted for about more than two and a half hours.

"It is vital that Palestinians act with unity in this process. The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity," Erdogan said according to a Turkish presidency statement.

Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the US, the European Union and Israel, is an arch-foe of the Fatah faction that governs the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.

The meeting between the two leaders also comes amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following reports of an Israeli counterattack on Iran.

Erdogan, as per news agency AFP, said that the strained ties between Tel Aviv and Tehran should also not permit Israel to "gain ground and that it is important to act in a way that keeps attention on Gaza".

Erdogan sends Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Qatar

After Qatar said that it will reevaluate its role as the mediator between Israel and Hamas amid the ongoing war, Erdogan on Wednesday sent Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Doha indicating that he wants to take up the role.

"Even if only I, Tayyip Erdogan, remain, I will continue as long as God gives me my life, to defend the Palestinian struggle and to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people," the president said Wednesday when he announced Haniyeh's visit.

Turkish Presidentslams Netanyahu

Earlier, on Tuesday (Apr 16), Erdogan hit out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership condemning them for the escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

"Israel violating international law and the Vienna Convention by targeting the Iranian Embassy in Damascus was the straw that broke the camel's back," Erdogan said during a press conference after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

He also launched a scathing attack on Netanyahu stating that he was solely responsible for the lives lost during the war and that he was endangering his own countrymen and people in the region.

"Netanyahu is endangering the lives of both his own citizens and all the people of the region to extend his political life. This is an indisputable fact: the one responsible for the tension that made our hearts skip a beat on the night of April 13 is Netanyahu and his government, which is seeing red," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)