Turkey speeds up diplomatic efforts to stop Israeli aggression

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 17 urged Pope Francis to help end what he called Israel's "massacre" of Palestinians, which should be punished with sanctions, his office has said.

According to a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate, Erdoğan told the Pope that an atrocity was being committed in Palestine, and Israel's attacks were not only against Palestinians but all Muslims, Christians and humanity.

Apart from blocking access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, restricting the freedom of worship, killing innocent civilians in the Palestinian lands and violating human dignity, the occupying Israel is also endangering regional security, Erdoğan said.

All humanity should unite against Israel's illegal and inhuman practices that also violate the status of Jerusalem, he added.

He stressed that the international community should give Israel a deterrent response and lesson it deserves and take concrete steps in this direction.

The Palestinians will continue to be massacred as long as the international community does not punish Israel, which has committed a crime against humanity, Erdoğan said.

Turkey has carried out intense diplomatic efforts at all relevant international platforms, especially at the United Nations, but the U.N. Security Council has not displayed the necessary sense of responsibility, he noted.

Meanwhile, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Ömer Çelik criticized the U.N.'s "equal calls" to Israel and Palestine to stop aggression.

"They make equal calls to the murderers of children and those whose children are killed. This is political hypocrisy," Çelik said on Twitter, noting that this kind of statement was nothing more...

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