President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is urging US President Joe Biden to use American support for Israel as a lever to secure a permanent ceasefire, as violence escalates between Israel and Palestine. This development was revealed following a telephone call between the two leaders, as documented in a readout provided by the Turkish government.
The United States remains an influential ally to Israel, making the proposed strategy a viable path to overcoming the crisis. However, while the USA and Turkey are bound by the NATO alliance, Biden and Erdogan have not publicly communicated directly since the onset of the conflict in Gaza.
The two leaders have notably disparate views on the Israel-Palestine issue, with Erdogan emerging as a robust critic of Israel, and Biden a fervent supporter of the Middle Eastern country. Examination of their respective readouts on the call suggests there is little common ground between the pair, with no substantial agreement on the ongoing conflict reached.
Biden strongly champions Israel's right to self-defense, while Erdogan proposes that the USA should retract its unconditional support for Israel in order to broker a ceasefire. The core disagreement hinges upon the differing perceptions of the two parties involved in the conflict: Turkey and the USA, with Turkey regarding Israel as a 'terrorist state' and refusing to label Hamas as a terrorist group.
The Turkish viewpoint was further elucidated in an interview with Erdogan's chief adviser on foreign policy and security. Turkey has been willing to host Hamas members, an action deemed controversial in the West, as a long-term strategy towards resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Reflecting on this, Erdogan's adviser stated that Fatah and Hamas form a critical part of the Palestinian collective and are central to the resolution process.
While it has yet to be confirmed whether Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Turkey on October 7, this would not be considered problematic by Turkey, which believes that active engagement with Hamas is beneficial. Decades ago, Israel reportedly invited Turkey to interact with Hamas in the interest of fostering peace - an initiative Turkey claims to be upholding.
