ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday that the international community must urgently implement a solution to stop Israel鈥檚 aggression, the Turkish presidency said, adding he had also voiced support for Lebanon.
A NATO member, Turkiye has denounced Israel鈥檚 devastating military offensive in Gaza prompted by Palestinian militant group Hamas鈥� cross-border attack last Oct. 7.
Turkiye halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court. Israel has said the genocide accusations are baseless and has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
Erdogan has previously condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, which Israel says are targeting Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure, and has called for international steps to halt Israel鈥檚 war in Gaza and cross-border fire with Hezbollah.
Turkiye鈥檚 presidency said Erdogan told Mikati in a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that the international community must urgently implement a solution to stop 鈥淚srael鈥檚 aggression.鈥�
鈥淧resident Erdogan said Israel was disregarding fundamental human rights, committing a genocide in front of the world, noting that stopping this and the humanitarian crisis that emerged as a result of the attacks was a humanitarian duty,鈥� the presidency said in a statement.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib in New York that Israel鈥檚 attacks in Lebanon were 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� and meant to 鈥渄rag the region into chaos,鈥� according to the Turkish diplomatic source.
Bou Habib thanked Fidan for a Turkish shipment of medicine that arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday, the source added, and also briefed Fidan on the latest developments in Lebanon.
Separately, Fidan told a G20 foreign ministers meeting in New York that it was unclear whether the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah would spread further, though the world was facing a wider conflict.
Fidan also reiterated Ankara鈥檚 long-standing call to reform the UN Security Council to make it 鈥渇ully effective,鈥� adding Turkiye wanted to see a structure in which 鈥渙ne country鈥檚 veto does not determine another鈥檚 destiny,鈥� the source added.
The United States, Russia, China, France and Britain are the permanent, veto-wielding members of the Security Council. There are 10 non-permanent members that serve two-year terms.