Türkiye will maintain constructive, proactive foreign policy — Erdogan

In an era of major international challenges, Türkiye will maintain its “constructive, proactive, calm and composed approach to foreign policy,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged.

In the same breath, the Turkish president reiterated on Wednesday Türkiye's opposition to Israel’s attempts to set the region ablaze by spreading conflict, vowing to fight until the “genocidal killers” of the Gaza bloodshed are held accountable.

“We will stand against Israel’s attempts to set the region on fire. We will fight until the genocidal killers who spilled the blood of over 40,000 innocents in Gaza are held accountable under the law,” Erdogan said in an address in the capital Ankara marking the 23rd anniversary of the country’s Justice and Development (AK) Party.

Mahmoud Abbas’ visit

Referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s visit to Türkiye starting on Wednesday, Erdogan said Abbas is set to address parliament on Thursday “as an honoured guest on behalf of the Palestinian people."

Erdogan once again criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 24 speech to the US Congress, which honoured the architect behind the bloody 10-month-old offensive on Gaza.

“I will ensure that Mahmoud Abbas has the right to speak in our country's parliament," he said.

Fighting terrorism

On Türkiye’s continuing counter-terrorism operations, Erdogan vowed not to “turn a blind eye to the revival of nearly eradicated terrorism or any faits accomplis in northern Syria.”

“We will not turn a blind eye to the revival of terrorism, which has nearly been eradicated as a result of our operations, nor to any fait accompli in northern Syria,” he said.

Türkiye has launched counter-terrorist operations in both northern Iraq and northern Syria, near its borders, as terrorists there pose a threat by plotting attacks on Turkish as well as the peaceful life of locals in frontier areas of those countries.