Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel is trying to remove the Palestinian issue from international agendas by fuelling instability and new conflicts in the Middle East. Speaking at a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara on August 13, Erdogan said the effort would not succeed and that Turkey would continue to take a strong pro-Palestinian position across international platforms.

Erdogan said Israeli occupation, forced displacement and policies to seize Palestinian land had intensified in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Citing United Nations data, he said nearly 3,800 Palestinians had been displaced and about 100 killed so far in 2026 because of settler violence, evictions and demolitions of structures.

He reaffirmed Turkey's commitment to an independent, sovereign and territorially contiguous Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Erdogan also opposed any attempt to alter the current status of holy sites, including Al-Aqsa Mosque. On Gaza, he called for security to be ensured and for reconstruction and rehabilitation to begin quickly. Abbas thanked Erdogan for Turkey's support for Palestinian rights and independence.