ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged the international community to uphold its obligations to the people of Gaza.

“The Israeli government must not be allowed to violate the cease-fire,” said Erdogan in a joint press conference with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaa Khurelsukh in the capital Ankara.

The world “must fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities toward Gazans,” Erdogan said.

“Despite losing more than 50,000 martyrs, mostly women and children, Gaza did not surrender, could not be subdued, and Gazans did not bow down to the oppressors,” Erdogan stressed.

“Now, we are faced with very important tasks such as eliminating the massive destruction caused by Israel in Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the region without interruption,” Erdogan underlined.

“As an alliance of humanity, we must work harder, especially from this point on, to ensure adherence to the cease-fire, and to heal the wounds in Gaza,” Erdogan noted.

“Türkiye believes peace talks for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital should begin as soon as possible,” Erdogan added.  

Meeting addresses bilateral ties, regional developments

Speaking on trade relations between the two nations, Erdogan said: "In terms of trade, we have exceeded our initial target of 100 million dollars. We believe that this figure is far behind our true potential.”

“In today's discussions, we focused on measures to increase our trade, as well as reaffirmed our determination to deepen our historical human and cultural relations, which may constitute the most important aspect of our relations,” Erdogan said.

"Since 1992, we have ensured that a significant number of Mongolian students benefit from Türkiye's scholarship programs," said Erdogan, adding that increasing this number further is the two nations’ common goal.

Erdogan said that they also discussed current regional and global developments, such as Syria, Palestine, and Ukraine.

Erdogan said that they agreed on continuing cooperation between the two countries on international platforms, as well as strengthening solidarity in international and regional organizations, particularly the UN.

Khurelsukh, for his part, said Mongolia desires to collaborate with Türkiye in ensuring global peace and in the defense sector.

Khurelsukh also expressed his country’s gratitude for “Türkiye's efforts to establish peace on both global and regional scales.”

“Establishing relations at the level of strategic partnership, opening a new chapter between the Mongolian and Turkish peoples, is of historical significance,” Khurelsukh said.

“We view Türkiye, which has a unique geographical location connecting Asia and Europe, as Mongolia's third neighboring country and recognize it as a reliable partner,” he noted.

“Therefore, we aim to steadily expand and develop our relationship and cooperation in all areas,” Khurelsukh noted.

"By coordinating Mongolia's Vision 2050 policy with Türkiye's Century of Türkiye development policy, we agreed to increase investment and exports, and to develop economic free zones," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Erdogan received Khurelsukh at the Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara.

The joint press conference came following one-on-one and delegation-level meetings.

A joint statement on the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries was signed by Erdogan and Khurelsukh.

Additionally, 10 agreements were signed between the two countries in the areas of radio and television, competition policy, transportation, health, education, youth and sports, mining, environment, and forestry.

Ukhnaa arrived in Türkiye on Wednesday for a five-day official visit.

This was the first visit at the presidential level from Mongolia to Türkiye after nearly 21 years.