President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated France for its decision to recognize the State of Palestine in a phone call with French leader Emmanuel Macron on Sunday.
Macron stated on Sunday that he had a phone call with Erdoğan, and in a social media post in Turkish, the French leader said they discussed the situation in Gaza and “perspective on a two-state solution conference.”
“Everything must be done for the peace and security of Israelis and Palestinians,” Macron said in his post.
The Turkish Presidency's Directorate of Communications stated in a written announcement on its official X account that, during the call, Erdoğan emphasized the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. Erdoğan stressed that the international community should find an emergency solution to the matter. The president stated that a two-state solution was necessary for achieving lasting peace in the region.
Macron announced Thursday that Paris would formally recognize Palestine during the U.N. General Assembly in September.
France is set to become the first member of the G-7 – a group of the world's largest advanced economies – to recognize a Palestinian state. To date, 147 of the 193 U.N. member states have officially recognized Palestine.
The move comes amid Israel's continued offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, which has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians – most of them women and children – and caused the collapse of Gaza's health system and severe food shortages.
France on Saturday said that recognizing a State of Palestine is an "essential step" on the path to peace and regional stability, reaffirming its commitment to a two-state solution based on international law.
"As France prepares to recognize the State of Palestine, let us recall the recognition of the State of Israel by France on Jan. 24, 1949," the French Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.
Citing a historic letter from former Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, the ministry emphasized that France's 1949 recognition of Israel did not prejudge final borders – a principle it now echoes in its approach to recognizing Palestine.
"Three-quarters of a century later, recognizing a State of Palestine is an essential step on the path to peace and regional stability," it added.
The ministry said that official recognition would help facilitate "indispensable negotiations" between Israelis and Palestinians on final status issues, including borders.
Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza, all territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel's government and most of its political class have long been opposed to Palestinian statehood.
France's decision marks an "important contribution" toward "implementing the two-state solution, which offers the only lasting basis for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike," Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said on X.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also voiced support for the French decision, stressing the urgency of preserving the path to a negotiated settlement.
"I welcome that France joins Spain and other European countries in recognizing the State of Palestine," he said on X.
"Together, we must protect what (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is trying to destroy. The two-state solution is the only solution," he added.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney also weighed in, calling on the U.K. government to take similar action. "The U.K. should follow the example of France tonight and recognize the State of Palestine. This is essential for peace," he said on X.
"The cease-fire and humanitarian aid must start now," he added.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the announcement. A letter announcing the move was presented to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem on Thursday.
''We express our thanks and appreciation'' to Macron, Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) vice president under Abbas, posted. ''This position reflects France's commitment to international law and its support for the Palestinian people's rights to self-determination.''
Israel, meanwhile, denounced the decision.
''We strongly condemn President Macron's decision,'' Netanyahu said in a statement. He claimed such a move "rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy."
Türkiye is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause in the face of atrocities by Israel and has launched a diplomatic blitz for an end to the conflict. On every diplomatic platform, Turkish officials advocate for a two-state solution that would resolve the tensions.
France and Saudi Arabia will chair a ministerial event between July 28 and July 30 in New York for a peaceful solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict and the accomplishment of the two-state solution to the longstanding issue. Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz will represent Türkiye at the event.
The event will have eight working groups on different topics and Türkiye, along with Ireland, will co-chair a working group on safeguarding the two-state solution. It will focus on concrete steps to realize the two-state solution.
In an interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche on Saturday, French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France and Saudi Arabia plan to lay out a proposed postwar roadmap leading to a two-state solution covering security, reconstruction and governance, which will be compatible with the Abraham Accords negotiated by U.S. President Trump.
The French minister added that in the coming weeks, the European Commission would take a tougher stance on Israel and demand a stop to building any new settlement projects in the West Bank, and also an end to militarized policing of humanitarian aid distribution.
Barrot also called on fellow European countries to demand the removal of the financial blockade on the Palestinian Authority, so it can receive the 2 billion euros ($2.35 billion) it is owed.
