ANKARA (Reuters) – A Turkish military plane with humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza has arrived in Egypt, the Turkish Red Crescent said on Friday, as President Tayyip Erdogan called rights violations against civilians in the enclave “unacceptable”.
“The first plane loaded with your aid has landed. The aid supplies that were procured for Gaza with your donations and which arrived in Egypt are being loaded onto trucks at Al Arish airport,” the Turkish Red Crescent – known as Kizilay – said on social messaging platform X.
It did not say what supplies were included in the aid, but state broadcaster TRT Haber reported that the shipment included food and medical supplies, adding it would be carried into Gaza via Egypt’s Rafah crossing.
Images of the aid being unloaded at Al Arish airport, shared by Kizilay on X, showed boxes covered with the logo of Turkey’s AFAD disaster management authority, and Turkish and Palestinian flags. AFAD did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Turkey has offered to mediate in the unprecedented clashes between Israel and Islamist militant group Hamas, which urged Gaza residents not to heed an Israeli warning to relocate south on Friday ahead of an expected ground invasion that risks high casualties.
Ankara has also backed the Palestinian cause and hosts Hamas members, while supporting a two-state solution to Israel and the Palestinians’ rival territorial claims.
Repeating a comment he had made previously, Erdogan told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a call on Friday that the human rights violations in against civilians in Gaza were unacceptable, and that Ankara was working to get aid to Gaza.
A senior Turkish official said this week Ankara was holding talks with Hamas for the release of civilian prisoners.
Friday’s aid shipment also comes as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan heads to Cairo for talks on regional and bilateral matters. The visit marks the first between two powers working to mend ties after years of animosity, following the re-appointment of ambassadors.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by John Stonestreet)
