Turkey voices support for Palestinian statehood

Ankara'a UN ambassador says international community must show solidarity with Palestinians, help them 'live in peace and with dignity'

Ynet |Published: 04.23.11 , 08:57

Turkey has declared that it supports Palestinian efforts to seek UN recognition for an independent Palestinian state.

According to a report in Turkish newspaper Zaman, Ankara believes it is "time for the international community to be in solidarity with Palestinians to help them live in peace and with dignity."

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Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, Turkey’s permanent representative to the UN, said at a UN Security Council debate on the Middle East that, “Through their state building efforts, the Palestinian Authority has proven to all the skeptics that they deserve to attain their decades-long target of internationally recognized statehood, even though they continue to suffer under occupation,”

Apakan added that if the Palestinian Authority proved "objectively ready" to be upgraded from its current observer status at the UN, the international community “must not turn a blind eye to their just and legitimate appeal… The time has come to show solidarity with the Palestinians and help them to live in peace and dignity.”

Apakan also highlighted that the needs of those who live on the Gaza Strip must be urgently addressed. Speaking of the next planned aid sail to Gaza Strip, Apakan warned that humanitarian flotillas breaking Israel’s blockade must not be perceived as provocations to violence. “It should also be borne in mind that the phenomenon of humanitarian convoys to Gaza cannot simply be explained away as unilateral provocations,” he said.