Erdogan: Trump’s Gaza plan a major threat to peace

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate the residents of Gaza to neighboring countries is a significant threat to global stability.

Speaking in an interview with Indonesian television broadcaster Narasi and quoted by Reuters, Erdogan criticized Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans, place the Gaza Strip under US control, and transform the area into what he has described as the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

“I view Trump’s decision to make such an agreement with a murderer like Netanyahu and his threats as a major threat to world peace,” Erdogan charged.

“At the moment, nobody can take Gaza away from Palestinians, from Gazans. Daring to do something like that is, firstly, a very different threat to world peace,” he added.

Erdogan also took issue with Trump’s broader approach, saying he considered the US President’s remarks— which he characterized as “challenges to many countries in the world”— to be inappropriate.

“My hope is that such mistakes are reversed as soon as possible, and for a global giant like the United States to rapidly turn back from these errors so that global peace can find a way to come out,” he said.

The comments mark the second time in recent days that Erdogan has criticized Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, he stated that no one has the authority to expel Gazans from their homeland, while claiming Trump’s plan was influenced by Israel.

“No one has the power to remove the people of Gaza from their eternal homeland that has been around for thousands of years,” Erdogan stated during a late-night press conference at Istanbul airport before departing for Malaysia.

He reiterated Turkey’s stance on Palestinian Arab sovereignty, emphasizing, “Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem belong to the Palestinians.”

“The proposals on Gaza put forward by the new US administration under pressure from the Zionist leadership have nothing worth discussing from our point of view,” remarked Erdogan.

While Arab countries have criticized Trump’s plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s plan during an interview last week and said, “This is the first good idea that I’ve heard. It’s a remarkable idea. And I think it should be really examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”

Egypt announced on Tuesday that it intends to present a “comprehensive proposal” for rebuilding Gaza while ensuring that Palestinian Arabs remain on their land.