President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday, hours after he announced that he would step up diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said in a statement that Meloni and Erdoğan discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including Israel’s attacks and human rights violations. Erdoğan highlighted that the savagery in targeting Palestinian lands is deepening and civilian deaths are increasing minute by minute. He told Meloni that they would work to ensure international courts punish Israel for its war crimes and invited Italy to support Türkiye for the implementation of a cease-fire and permanent peace.
Earlier on Wednesday, Erdoğan said in a speech that they were pursuing a two-pronged approach to the issue, involving mobilization for humanitarian aid for Palestinians and isolating Israel in the international community.
The Italian government supports Israel's "right for self-defense," as its foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said earlier this week. It also sent humanitarian aid to Gaza and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state with Gaza as part of it.
