Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he believes Muhammadu Buhari, his Nigerian counterpart, would stand with Palestine in teaching Israel a lesson as a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Erdogan made the call when he spoke with Buhari on the telephone on Friday evening.
“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. Exchanging Eid al-Fitr greetings, the two leaders discussed bilateral relations and regional developments,” the Turkish Presidency tweeted on Friday.
“Drawing attention to Turkey’s efforts exerted in order for the international community to teach the necessary lesson to unlawful, unjust and unscrupulous Israel due to its attacks against Palestine, President Erdogan voiced his belief that Nigeria would show solidarity with the Palestinians in this rightful cause.”
Apart from Buhari, reports say Erdogan had also spoken with some other world leaders on the matter.
He was said to have spoken with Kyrgyz President, Sadyr Japarov; his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani; Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, a former Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad; and Libya’s Prime Minister, Abdul Dbeibeh.
So far, the Nigerian government has not taken on clear stance on the battle between Israel and Palestine, which gained global attention on Monday, following the exchange of rockets between both countries.
The ministry of foreign affairs released a statement earlier in the week, simply asking for de-escalation of the crisis.
