In Ankara, a heated debate took place between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and German Chancellor Friedrich Mers over the Gaza issue. This was reported by Deutsche Welle.
According to reports, on October 30, Friedrich Mers visited Ankara to re-establish cooperation on migration, defense, and the situation in Gaza. However, during the negotiations, the views of the two sides on Gaza differed sharply.
At a joint press conference, Mers emphasized that Berlin's position in support of Israel remains unchanged and assigned responsibility for the war to Hamas.
"Israel is exercising its right to self-defense. If HAMAS had freed the hostages and dropped weapons, the number of casualties would not have been so high," the German Chancellor said.
President Erdoğan, disagreeing with this view, emphasized that Hamas does not possess nuclear or heavy weapons, and Israel continues to strike Gaza despite the ceasefire.
"They are not only attacking, but also trying to subjugate Gaza through famine and genocide. This tragedy is still ongoing," Erdoğan said.
At the same time, he expressed hope that Turkey and Germany would "work together" on the future of Gaza.
Meers, in turn, called on Turkey to influence Hamas and move to the second phase of the peace plan. As a reminder, a peace agreement was reached on October 8 at the invitation of the United States, mediated by Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt.
Erdoğan, without providing detailed information, stated that Turkish ministers have been tasked with continuing dialogue with Hamas leaders.
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