Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said it was “never possible” for Turkey to positively consider the US$50 billion U.S. peace plan for the Middle East, broadcaster NTV reported on Monday.
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Turkey is a key ally to Hamas in Gaza and one of the largest donors of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.
Erdogan, who is dealing with his own tiff with the U.S. over Turkey’s S-400 deal with Russia, has often criticized Washington’s role in the Middle East, especially when it comes to Syria.
The Turkish President has accused the U.S. of arming “terrorist groups” in Syria, which is a reference to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Erdogan claims the SDF is an offshoot organization of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is a Kurdish-led group that was involved in a long war with Turkey during the last two decades of the 1900s.
The White House last week outlined a US$50 billion Middle East economic plan that would create a global investment fund to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies, and fund a $5 billion transportation corridor to connect the West Bank and Gaza.
Speaking to reporters after the G20 summit in Japan, Erdogan also said that the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey would hold a summit in July to discuss developments in Syria, NTV said.
Among the topics to be discussed between the three countries is the ongoing battle taking place in Syria’s Idlib province. All three of these countries currently have troops inside of Syria, with Turkey having the largest presence inside of Idlib.