Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke to journalists following the Friday prayers. "In the recent statements made at the UN Security Council, we see that the US has sided with Israel. While everyone else is standing with Palestine, the US unfortunately is showing its stance by siding with Israel. We weren't really expecting anything different anyway," Erdoğan stressed in his comments.
Erdoğan underlined the following keynotes in his remarks: "Our visit to Iraq was actually a postponed visit. Now that the election is over, we will carry out this visit to Iraq. It will be a one-day visit. First, Baghdad. After our meetings with the President and Prime Minister in Baghdad, we will visit Erbil. In Erbil, we will have the opportunity to discuss not only the issues of northern Iraq but also the issues related to the central administration. There will be topics that we will discuss under the framework of generalizing Iraq-Türkiye relations."
''We will have the opportunity to address the relations between Türkiye and Germany. We have longstanding friendships with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. We will discuss many political, military, economic, and commercial issues. The discussions with President Steinmeier regarding us will also focus on how we can further advance Germany-Türkiye relations.''
''Israel is saying different things. Iran is also putting forward different views in the same way. There is no ownership, and there is really no statement that is not ridiculous regarding the matter. You can't say Iran is telling the truth in its statements. You can't even say that about Israel. They point to the U.S. What's even more important is that in the recent statements made by the U.S. in the UN Security Council, we see that the U.S. is standing with Israel. While everyone else stands with Palestine, unfortunately, the U.S. is taking its stand by standing with Israel. We weren't expecting anything different anyway.''
Iran's state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan Friday, as U.S. media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival.
Israel had previously warned it would hit back after Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel almost a week ago, in retaliation for a deadly strike on Iran's embassy in Syria which Tehran blamed on its foe.
Fears of a major regional spillover from the Gaza war have since soared.
''Mr. Mitsotakis' visit is a sort of return visit. This visit is an important milestone in Türkiye-Greece relations. We will have discussions on how we can bring Türkiye-Greece relations to a much better position.''
