The “House of Wisdom and Conflict Resolution” Institute organized a political conference titled “Turkey and Palestine: Challenges and Aspirations” where Palestinian and Turkish politicians and academics discussed “the nature and future” of Turkish-Palestinian relations.
The conference was attended by Turkish Ambassador to Palestine Mustafa Sarnic, a number of foreign and political personalities and a number of Turks living in Gaza.
Dr. Ahmed Yousef, Chairman of Bayt Al Hikma Institute, said in a speech during the conference: “Turkey has provided a lot for the Palestinian cause, at the humanitarian and humanitarian level, and it has always been there to help the people of the Gaza Strip when it comes to war.”
“Turkey has had remarkable efforts to support Palestine and rally support for its adoption as an observer in the United Nations, in addition to its relentless efforts to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip.”
In his speech, Dr. Yousef called on the Turkish government to work to support Palestinian reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas until “the end of the division in its full form.”
For his part, the Turkish ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, “Mustafa Sarnich,” described the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as “unlikely”.
“The Palestinian people are living with undeniable difficulties. They need to support their social and economic structure to provide a more stable life for them,” he said in a speech at the conference.
On the Turkish role in support of the Palestinian people, “Sarnetic” said: “The value of Turkish assistance and support, which has been provided to the Palestinian people during the past ten years, about (400) million US dollars.”
He stressed that Turkey will continue to provide its economic and political support to the cause and the Palestinian people without interruption.
“Our support for the Palestinian cause is unconditional and permanent,” he said.
For his part, the director of the Center for the Alliance of Civilizations, Burhan Koroglu, said in a speech from the Turkish city of Istanbul, through Video Conferencing, that his focus is on supporting education among Palestinians.
He added: “We offer annual scholarships to students, and we believe that the more young Palestinians provide the best level of education, the greater their ability in the future to overcome the Israeli occupation.”
“Turkey has supported the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause and we look forward to the full sovereignty of Palestine on its territory through Turkey’s political endeavors,” said Oliver McKetternan, director of Forward thinking.
The conference will be held for one day and will discuss 14 scientific working papers presented by researchers from Palestine, Turkey, Britain and Lebanon.
