ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the United States to reverse its decision denying visas to Palestinian Authority members for this month’s United Nations General Assembly.
A United States official confirmed on Saturday that Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and eighty other officials would be barred from attending the summit.
This controversial move further aligns the Trump administration with Israel’s government amid its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
Israel firmly opposes Palestinian statehood and consistently groups the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority with its Gaza-ruling rival Hamas.
Erdogan stated during his flight back from China that this American decision contradicts the fundamental purpose of the United Nations.
“We believe that the decision should be revised as soon as possible,“ he told Turkish journalists after attending a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting.
The Turkish president, a staunch Palestinian defender, frequently criticises Israel’s Gaza campaign and accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of genocide. – AFP
