Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday his country has started to evacuate wounded people from Gaza to Turkey for treatment.
Erdogan did not provide details, but the state-run Anadolu Agency said a Turkish air ambulance left for Israel late on Sunday to transport four people to Turkey for treatment in hospitals in the capital Ankara. The agency said a child was among the wounded.
Erdogan made his announcement during a victory speech hours after he was elected president in Turkey’s first direct vote for the position.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu greeted the Palestinians at the airport in Ankara and told reporters that “our wounded from Gaza have started to come.”
“In the first stage we plan to bring to Turkey, and treat, maybe 200 patients,” who would be shuttled from Ben Gurion International Airport with Israeli coordination, he said.
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Turkey would also provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, Davutoglu told the Anadolu Agency, and said Ankara hoped that “a lasting ceasefire will be held and agreed between Israel and Gaza.”
Davutoglu said this week that Turkey was working to establish an air corridor to bring the seriously wounded to Turkey.
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