(ANSA-AFP) - ISTANBUL, OCT 19 - Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan today praised the cooperative "efforts" of his
"dear friend," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, despite their
continued disagreement over Israel's war in Gaza. The
chancellor, on his second visit to Turkey since taking office,
rejected the term "genocide" used by the Turkish president and
argued that "Israel has the right to defend itself and must
respect international law." "The possibilities for a ceasefire
must now be exploited with the release of the hostages (in the
hands of) Hamas," he insisted. "More than 50,000 people have
been killed, with no distinction between children, women and the
elderly," Erdogan argued, justifying the 'genocide' case
initiated against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
On the other hand, the Turkish head of state welcomed the
chancellor's "efforts" to lift German restrictions on arms
supplies to Turkey. Ankara is hoping for progress in the
purchase of 40 Eurofighter Typhoons fighter jets to compensate
for delays in the delivery of American F-16 fighter jets, the
sale of which was approved by Washington earlier this year.
"Turkey is a member of NATO and that is why we always make
decisions that lead to concrete deliveries," Scholz said.
Delivery of the Eurofighters requires the agreement of the four
European countries involved in their construction: the United
Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. (ANSA-AFP).
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