Erdogan urges Biden to withdraw "unconditional support" for Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 14 said the United States has a "historic responsibility" to secure a lasting cease-fire in the Gaza conflict as soon as possible, urging it to withdraw its "unconditional support" for Israel.

Erdogan's remarks came during a phone call with his American counterpart Joe Biden, to whom he said that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza should be stopped and warned that a deepening and prolongation of Israel's attacks could have "negative regional and global consequences", Daily Sabah reports.

"It is the historic responsibility of the U.S. to ensure a permanent cease-fire in the region as soon as possible," Erdogan said, according to a statement by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications.

He also said the withdrawal of U.S.' "unconditional support" for Israel could ensure a cease-fire quickly and that demands for such a move had been made more loudly in recent days globally and in the United States.

Earlier on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called on the U.S. not to block United Nations resolutions for a cease-fire in Gaza.

"Only the U.S. stands between massacre and cease-fire in Gaza," Fidan said, referring to the widely criticized U.S. vetoes of two U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolutions in October and earlier this month.

Erdogan and Biden also discussed NATO, Sweden's application to join the military alliance, and bilateral relations, including the issue of F-16 fighter jet sales to Türkiye, the statement said.

Erdogan underlined the need for the establishment of a guarantor mechanism, as suggested by Türkiye, to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

He stressed that the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital based on the 1967 borders is "the most reasonable and permanent solution."

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege, and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 18,787 Palestinians have since been killed and 50,897 others injured in the Israeli onslaught, according to Gaza's health authorities.

The Israeli death toll stands at nearly 1,200, according to official figures.