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Turkish leaders urge greater UN role in Gaza conflict: report
AFP - 2 hours 55 minutes ago
ANKARA (AFP) - - Turkish leaders on Friday urged visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to do more to bring an end to Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza, the Anatolia news agency reported.
In a closed-door working dinner, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Ban that Turkey would have liked to see the United Nations take a more active role in resolving the Gaza conflict, the state-run agency said.
The UN chief got a similar message from President Abdullah Gul, who said that the "tragedy in Gaza was hurting the UN's prestige" and called for an immediate ceasefire, it added.
Last week, the United Nations passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but it has been rejected by both Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement.
On Thursday, Israeli forces struck a UN building in Gaza as Ban was in Israel, triggering a strong condemnation from the UN chief.
Turkey has been Israel's main regional ally since the two countries signed a military accord in 1996, but the onslaught in Gaza, which has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians, has unleashed anger in the predominantly Muslim country.
There are almost daily demonstrations denouncing Israel while the Islamist-rooted government has accused the Jewish State of using indiscriminate force and targeting civilian. Ankara has also protested that the international community has remained silent in the face of Israel's aggression.
As Ban headed for talks with Turkish leaders, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the UN building in Ankara to denounce Israel's offensive and called for disbanding the United Nations for failing to stop it.
"Gaza is burning, the world remains silent," shouted the demonstrators, kept some 50 meters (yards) away from the UN building behind police barricades, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
"Disband the UN, collaborator of Israel and the United States," read placards carried by the demonstrators who often broke into chants of "Allah-u Akbar," or "God is great" in English.
Police at the scene estimated the number of protestors to be around 400. The protest ended peacefully.
Ban was in Ankara as part of a regional tour to press for a ceasefire. He has already visited Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
He left Turkey for Lebanon and will also visit Syria before going to Kuwait to attend an Arab League summit on Monday.
Ban's visit comes as efforts gathered pace in Egypt to broker a truce between Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement and secure an end to the Jewish state's 21-day-old campaign in Gaza.
A senior Hamas official told Al-Jazeera television that they had received an invitation to Cairo for fresh talks on the truce plan after an Israeli delegation told Egypt their position.
Turkey is also actively involved in the truce efforts and a delegation headed by Erdogan's top foreign policy adviser, Ahmet Davutoglu, has been in the region since last week.
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Demonstrators shout slogans near the UN building in Ankara to denounce Israel's offensive. Turkish leaders on Friday urged visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to do more to bring an end to Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza, the Anatolia news agency reported.
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