Turkish foreign minister sheds tear in Gaza
Turkey's Ahmet Davutoglu visits hospital in Strip as part of Arab League delegation
The "Anatolia" news agency reported that the senior Turkish diplomat broke out in tears after seeing bodies and the wounded at Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital.
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Davutoglu visited the hospital with Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby who led the delegation of Arab foreign ministers.
Also joining him was Bilal Erdogan, son of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Medical sources in the Strip reported that the death count stands at 138 people, of which 59 are civilians.
Davutoglu sobs in Gaza hospital
This is not the first time Davutoglu became emotional in public. In August, the Turkish foreign minister paid a visit to Myanmar in solidarity with the Muslim minority in the East Asian country.
In June, 90 people were killed in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar and over 3,000 houses were destroyed. In October, an additional round of violence broke out between different groups and since then, approximately 100,000 people, mostly Muslim, have been living in refugee camps.
Davutoglu visited Myanmar with the Turkish prime minister's wife, Amina Erdogan, and the two distributed aid packages on behalf of the government. Both Davutoglu and Erdogan's wife were seen shedding a tear for the survivors.
Davutoglu and Erdogan were not remiss in expressing their aversion to the Israel Defense Forces' activities in Gaza. Ergodan said last week that, "Israel is a terror state and its acts are terrorist acts". He blamed the Israeli leadership for slaughtering children in the Strip because of the upcoming elections.
Davutoglu with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
Erdogan said on Saturday that, "Israel is turning the area into a bloodbath". According to him, "every drop of Palestinian blood is pouring from the veins of all Muslims and every tear dropping from their eyes is our tear too." Davutoglu said that Israel is carrying out war crimes in Gaza.
Erdogan's words provoked criticism by the United States, Turkey's ally. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Noland said on Tuesday night that, "the especially hard words" he used, "are not productive". Noland noted that these types of statements are not helping in putting an end to the tension in the region and that Washington has sent a clear message to the government in Ankara.
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