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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged Wednesday to stand behind an international declaration supporting Gaza's ceasefire, while announcing his country aims to become a top-five global producer of rare earth minerals.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdogan said Türkiye would "fully support the declaration through the end," referring to an agreement signed Monday at a peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
"I believe the United States, Egypt, and Qatar will all take a similar position," Erdogan said.
The summit, hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, brought together more than 20 world leaders to endorse the Gaza ceasefire deal. Erdogan joined Trump, al-Sisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in formally signing the document backing the truce and permanent peace in the Palestinian territory.
Erdogan defended international humanitarian efforts in Gaza against unnamed critics. "Every effort to ease the burden of the oppressed people of Gaza is valuable to us," he said. "It is not anyone's place or right to belittle this by simply saying 'they signed a ceasefire'."
The Turkish president said his country has sent over 100,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza and has consistently advocated for the Palestinian cause at international forums while working toward a ceasefire.
Türkiye will closely monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement, Erdogan added.
The prisoner exchange began Monday with Hamas releasing all 20 living Israeli captives held in Gaza, followed by the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.
Erdogan highlighted Türkiye's role in fostering regional peace, praising what he called his country's success in "fellowship and neighborliness."
"Our relations with Syria are strengthening," Erdogan said. "As stability takes root in Syria, everything will improve significantly."
Shifting to energy policy, Erdogan outlined ambitious plans to develop Türkiye's mineral resources and bring them to international markets with added value.
The government has conducted approximately 125,000 meters of drilling at 310 locations in a rare earth element field in Beylikova, located in Eskisehir province. The exploration has identified 694 million tons of resources, primarily rare earth elements, barite and fluorite.
"The Beylikova field, which contains 10 of the 17 rare earth elements, contains about 12.5 million tons of rare earth oxides," Erdogan said. "We aim to become one of the world's top five rare earth element producers."
Türkiye has commissioned the Eti Maden Pilot Production Facility, which will process 1,200 tons of ore annually. The government is pursuing purification technology to transform the pilot plant into an industrial facility.
Erdogan acknowledged that countries and companies with rare earth element technology remain "unfortunately" hesitant to share their production expertise. He said overcoming this challenge requires international collaboration, noting that many countries have signed agreements for technology development, consultancy and technology transfer.
"Türkiye is also talking with expert organizations of countries with technological expertise to develop collaborations," he said.
The president emphasized one firm boundary: "Giving the rare earth element field in Beylikova over to any other country is out of the question."
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