Turkey presses UN for arms embargo on Israel in joint letter

Turkey's foreign ministry said Sunday it had submitted a letter to the United Nations, signed by 52 countries and two organisations, calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel.

"We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. We delivered this letter, which has 54 signatories, to the UN on November 1," said Hakan Fidan at a press conference in Djibouti, where he was attending a Turkey-Africa partnership summit.

"We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide"," said Fidan who added that the letter is "an initiative launched by Turkey".

Among the signatories was Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Iran and Russia, with the two organisations being the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the UN to impose an arms embargo on Israel, which he said would be an "effective solution" to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

© Agence France-Presse