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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye will work with the United States and Gulf countries to coordinate efforts for rebuilding Gaza following the ceasefire agreement that ended more than two years of conflict.
"Of course, we will discuss this together with the United States and Gulf countries and decide what steps we will take on this issue," Erdogan said during an AK Party Economic Affairs Directorate training program at party headquarters on Tuesday.
Erdogan said rebuilding Palestine will likely take years, noting the process has both a construction phase and a revival phase.
"Türkiye has an important duty here," Erdogan said. "As Türkiye, we will work for this and closely follow every stage of the process with this understanding."
Despite two years of pain, massacre and persecution, Erdogan said he considers the ceasefire in Gaza very valuable and emphasized the need for international cooperation in healing Palestine's wounds.
"Now we all need to heal Palestine's wounds, rebuild Gaza and become a lifeline for our Gazan brothers," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said leaders demonstrated strong will at the Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit Monday, where Türkiye joined the United States, Egypt and Qatar in signing a peace declaration.
"I hope the quadrilateral declaration we signed with American President Trump, Egyptian President (Abdel Fattah) el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim will be a new milestone on the road to permanent peace in our region," Erdogan said.
The Turkish president said the goal is for the meaningful step taken Monday to be crowned with permanent and just peace. He said the only way to achieve this is to establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with territorial integrity based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
"Allah willing, I believe with all my heart that we will see those beautiful days," Erdogan said.
Erdogan described emotional scenes in Gaza following the ceasefire implementation.
"Today in Gaza, even if bittersweet, children's faces are smiling. Aid workers are prostrating in gratitude. Mothers can send their children out to the street for the first time in two years without fear of bombs raining from above. Just seeing these is happiness for us," Erdogan said.
However, Erdogan also acknowledged the immense scale of destruction. He said eliminating the damage caused by the conflict that left 68,000 dead, more than 170,000 wounded, destroyed cities, shattered lives and orphaned children may never be fully possible.
"Those innocent babies whose mothers, fathers and siblings were brutally murdered before their eyes will feel the pain of this in their hearts throughout their lives," Erdogan said.
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