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ANKARA: President Tayyip Erdogan told US counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call on Friday that Turkiye welcomed efforts to reach peace in the region, but that Israel must stop its attacks for efforts to be successful, the Turkish presidency said.
Erdogan and Trump met at the White House last month for the first time in six years, for a meeting that the Turkish leader said helped the NATO allies make “meaningful progress” on a range of issues.
In a statement, the presidency said the two had discussed bilateral ties in the call requested by the US side, adding that Erdogan stressed the importance of taking steps to boost their cooperation, namely in the defense industry.
Erdogan also said that their meeting had strengthened ties, it added.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in Gaza, the presidency said, adding that Erdogan told Trump that Turkiye was working hard to achieve regional peace and welcomed initiatives aimed at that goal.
“Erdogan emphasized that Turkiye had increased its diplomatic contacts for peace, that it would continue to support (Trump’s) vision for global peace, and that Israel stopping its attacks is important for the success of initiatives aimed at achieving peace in the region,” it said.
Turkiye, which has called Israel’s attacks on Gaza a genocide and halted all trade with Israel, has voiced support for Trump’s latest plan to end the war in Gaza.

BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Friday that the Israeli military had dropped grenades near its peacekeepers in south Lebanon the day before, urging the army to stop such attacks.
UNIFIL peacekeepers have been working with the Lebanese army to support a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah that culminated in two months of open war.
The latest incident comes a month after UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped four grenades near peacekeepers, with Israel insisting at the time that there was “no intentional fire” directed at the force on that occasion.
“Yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropped grenades near peacekeepers working alongside Lebanese soldiers to provide security for civilian workers” in Maroun Al-Ras near the Israeli border, a UNIFIL statement said Friday, adding that nobody was hurt.
The workers “were trying to clear the ruins of homes destroyed due to the war,” and peacekeepers had informed the Israeli army of the activity in advance, UNIFIL added.
In one incident, the statement said, two groups of peacekeepers “heard a grenade explode near an excavator” around 500 meters (yards) away.
“Moments later, the first group saw a drone fly overhead and witnessed an explosion about 30-40 meters away,” it added.
Soon after, “the second group saw another drone drop a grenade that exploded just 20 meters over their heads.”
Under the US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel were both required to withdraw from south Lebanon, while UNIFIL deployed there alongside the Lebanese military, in part to help dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israel has kept up regular strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets despite the truce, and has maintained its troops in five locations it deems strategic.
UNIFIL said Friday’s attack demonstrated disregard for peacekeepers “and the stability they are working to restore.”
“Such actions also constitute a serious violation of (United Nations) Security Council resolution 1701,” it added, referring to a resolution that ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November ceasefire.
The statement urged the Israeli army “to cease attacks on or near peacekeepers, civilians, and Lebanese soldiers and allow us to carry out our mandated tasks without obstruction.”
UNIFIL has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon, and numbers some 10,000 personnel from almost 50 countries.
In August, the Security Council voted to end UNIFIL’s mission in 2027.