Xinhua (Analysis)
November 2, 2012 - 12:00am
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/02/c_131947640.htm


 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he is planning to pay a visit to Gaza along with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if the conditions are ripe, local newspaper Today's Zaman reported on Friday.

Welcoming the Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani's recent trip to Gaza, "I want to visit Gaza soon in mutual covenant with Gaza authorities too," Erdogan told reporters on board of a plane en route from Berlin to Ankara late Wednesday.

Although President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas's arch-rival, is not in favour of the rule of Hamas in Gaza, Erdogan said that he even once offered a suggestion to Abbas to visit Gaza together, adding "he was warm to the suggestion."

Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his wife Sheikha Mozah travelled from Egypt to Gaza in October, a political move to break Israel's blockade on Gaza.

Turkey also urged Israel to lift its blockade to Gaza, making it one of the pre-conditions to normalize relations with Israel which strained after an Israeli raid on Turkish aid ship, killing nine Turkish activists in 2009.




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