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Obama Talks Gaza With Islamist Turkish Leader Who Called Hamas Strikes 'a Pre-Election Stunt'
2:11 PM, Nov 16, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER
President Barack Obama spoke on the phone with the Islamist leader of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, about the Israel's retaliatory strikes on the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, according to the White House.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The two leaders, according to a White House read-out of the call, seemed to agree on much. "Today, the President called Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss the escalating violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip," the White House read-out of the call states.
"The two leaders shared their concerns about the dangers to civilian populations on both sides and expressed their common desire to see an end to the violence. The President and Prime Minister agreed that the continued spiral of violence jeopardizes prospects for a durable, lasting peace in the region. The President underscored his commitment to advancing the goal of Middle East peace. The President’s call to Prime Minister Erdogan follows his outreach to counterparts in Israel and Egypt on November 14."
Indeed, the White House in no way indicates the leaders disagreed about anything in their call.
Interestingly, Erdoğan earlier called the strikes "a pre-election stunt," according to the news outlet Ynet.
"Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan decried Israel's airstrikes on Gaza on Friday as a pre-election stunt and said he would discuss the crisis with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo this weekend," reports Ynet.
Ynet says that Erdoğan told reporters, "Before this election they (Israel) shot these innocent people in Gaza for reasons they fabricated. ... The dominant world powers are now making the Gaza people and fighters pay, and as the Republic of Turkey we are with our brothers in Gaza and their just cause."
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