Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will pay a two-day visit to Turkey in mid-August during which he will address Turkish lawmakers in parliament, according to Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.
Altun’s statement on X on Wednesday ends a controversy over a recent invitation sent to Abbas by the speaker of parliament to address the legislature.
Filistin Devlet Başkanı Sayın Mahmut Abbas, 14-15 Ağustos’ta ülkemize bir ziyarette bulunacaktır.
14 Ağustos Çarşamba günü Cumhurbaşkanımız Sayın Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ile görüşecek olan Sayın Abbas, 15 Ağustos Perşembe günü Gazi Meclisimizin Genel Kuruluna hitap edecektir.
— Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) July 31, 2024
Abbas’s lack of response to the invitation was slammed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said over the weekend that Abbas should offer an apology for not responding.
Altun said Abbas will meet with Erdoğan on the first day of his visit on August 14 and will speak before parliament the following day in Ankara.
Turkey extended the invitation to Abbas to speak in parliament after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to the US Congress last week where he defended his country’s ongoing war on Gaza and received prolonged applause and standing ovations from some members of Congress.
Erdoğan sharply criticized the United States for hosting Netanyahu, whom he called “the Hitler of our age” and accused the US of hypocrisy regarding human rights.
The announcement about Abbas’s Turkey visit was made when Turkey was strongly condemning the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, an ally of Erdoğan, in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran early on Wednesday.
“This shameful act aims to sabotage the Palestinian cause, the glorious Gazan resistance and our Palestinian brothers’ just fight, and to intimidate Palestinians,” Erdoğan said on X.
Abbas also strongly condemned the assassination, describing it as “a cowardly act and a dangerous development,” according to a statement from the official Wafa news agency. The president also called on Palestinians to unite and “be patient and steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation.”
Hamas is a rival of Abbas’s Fatah faction, which rules the semi-autonomous Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began on October 7 following an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has led to more than 39,000 casualties and massive devastation, according to the health ministry in Gaza.