FM: Türkiye opposes any effort to expel Palestinians from their homeland

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that Ankara strongly opposes any attempts to expel Palestinians from their homeland.

Fidan made these comments at a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty in Ankara while discussing the proposal put forward by US President Donald Trump to resettle refugees from Gaza in Arab countries, Caliber.Az reports per Turkish media.

The diplomat also expressed concerns over the possibility of Israel resuming attacks on the Gaza Strip.

“On Sunday, I had a meeting in Doha with members of the Political Bureau of Hamas. The Hamas side has no hesitation in fulfilling the terms of the ceasefire agreement. However, there are questions around the world about how the Netanyahu government will behave after the release of Israeli prisoners,” Fidan said.

The Turkish minister called on the international community to adopt a unified stance to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from resuming what he described as a genocide against the Palestinians to satisfy his own political interests. Regarding the exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas, Fidan mentioned that 15 Palestinians, freed from Israeli prisons, had arrived in Türkiye after receiving visas from the Turkish embassy in Cairo.

US President Donald Trump has previously urged Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinian refugees so that demolition and reconstruction works could begin in the Strip, which he described as being "a real mess." He stated that the relocation of the Palestinians "could be short-term or long-term", raising alarms among the Arab world fearing expulsion from the Gaza Strip. Both countries have publicly rejected this proposal, while Trump reiterated on January 30 that "they will do it."

In the statement, the six Arab nations together with the Arab League have " affirmed their rejection of any violation of these inalienable rights, whether through settlement activities, the expulsion and demolition of homes, land annexation, or the displacement of Palestinians from their land. They also rejected any efforts to encourage the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land, under any circumstances or justifications."  

By Naila Huseynova