Turkey's Erdogan says post-war Gaza must be part of sovereign Palestinian state

By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Gaza must be part of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state once the Israel-Hamas war is over, and Ankara will not support any plans "gradually erasing Palestinians" from history.

Erdogan made the remarks a day before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to arrive in Ankara for talks on Gaza.

Turkey, which has sharply escalated its criticism of Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has intensified, supports a two-state solution and hosts members of Hamas, which it does not view as a terrorist organisation, unlike the United States, Britain and others in the West.

Turkey has called for an immediate ceasefire and offered to set up a system to guarantee it.

"Once all of this that is happening is finished, we want to see Gaza as a peaceful region that is a part of an independent Palestinian state, in line with 1967 borders, with territorial integrity, and with East Jerusalem as its capital," Erdogan was on Saturday cited as saying by broadcaster Haberturk and others.

"We will support formulas that will bring peace and calm to the region. We will not be supportive of plans that will further darken the lives of Palestinians, that will gradually erase them from the scene of history."

Erdogan said his intelligence chief was in contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities, as well as Hamas, but he would no longer regard Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a counterpart. He said Turkey did not want to sever ties with Israel.

Several hundred protesters gathered in Ankara and Istanbul on Saturday to demonstrate against the United States and Israel on the eve of Blinken's visit. The Secretary of State will meet Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday.

Footage from Ankara showed protesters gathered near the U.S. Embassy, chanting slogans and holding posters which read: "Israel bombs hospitals, Biden pays for it."

In Istanbul's Sarachane park, protesters held banners saying "Blinken, the accomplice of the massacre, go away from Turkey," with a picture of Netanyahu and Blinken together with a red "X" mark on it.

"Children are dying, babies are dying there, being bombed," said 45-year-old teacher Gulsum Alpay.

ENVOYS RECALLED

Ankara said on Saturday it had recalled its ambassador to Israel, Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, for consultations, after Israel recalled its envoys to Turkey last month to reassess their ties following Erdogan's description of Hamas as freedom fighters.

Israeli diplomats in Turkey had left the country before its foreign ministry recalled them, due to security concerns after pro-Palestinian protests erupted across the country.

On Saturday, Israel's foreign ministry said Ankara's move to recall its ambassador was "another step to side with terrorist organisation Hamas".

Prior to the Israel-Hamas war, Turkey was working to repair relations with Israel after years of acrimony.

Erdogan added that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would visit Turkey at the end of November, and that he would attend an Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Riyadh this month to discuss a ceasefire in Gaza.

He said Turkey would support any initiatives to ensure that Israel is held accountable for what he described as war crimes and human rights violations, and that a failure to do so would erode trust in the global system.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Additional reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen, Bulent Usta, and Murad Sezer in Istanbul, and Mert Ozkan in Ankara; Editing by Giles Elgood and Ros Russell)