“He wants to use the war in Gaza to strengthen his position in the Muslim world,” according to the Berliner Zeitung Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “This plan also includes close contact with Iran,” the newspaper said after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian visited Ankara on Wednesday.

“During the meeting, Amirabdolayan praised Erdogan’s strong statement of support for the Palestinian people and their fight against the ‘Zionist’ regime,” the Berlin newspaper reported. While Iran’s foreign minister reiterated his earlier warnings that “the conflict could spread to other parts of the region if Israel does not stop its war against the people of Gaza” he singled out the US as the main cause of the escalation of violence in Middle East.”

“Erdogan, for his part, referred to the meeting in his recent phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and said Turkey’s priority is to end the attacks on Gaza and lift the blockade on humanitarian aid.”

“The West is having difficulties with the Turkish president’s stance on the Gaza war,” the paper then reported, while a top diplomat from an EU member state told the paper, “The direction is completely unclear, sometimes Erdogan wants to be a mediator in conflict, then picks up extremely disturbing anti-Israeli tones.” EU diplomats, however, “officially avoid criticizing Turkey”, the newspaper concludes.

Israel is diplomatically isolated

“The Netanyahu government has failed to convince the world community to wage war on Gaza and to gather sufficient political and moral support for its war objective – the destruction of Hamas,” Süddeutsche Zeitung comments on the UN ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip. “On the other hand, the country’s isolation is actually growing, apart from its essential and loyal allies such as the US or the majority of European states led by Germany.”

While the taz of Berlin reports that “because of the attack on the Gaza Strip, Israel is facing increasing diplomatic pressure. On Thursday it was announced that the Emirate of Bahrain is withdrawing its ambassador from Israel. Jordan had already recalled its ambassador from Israel on Wednesday. Latin American countries are reacting similarly: On Tuesday, Bolivia severed diplomatic relations over the Israeli army’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, and Colombia and Chile also recalled their ambassadors, taz concludes.