J’lem sends aid as Turkey calls for pressure on Israel
First plane of earthquake relief departs for Ankara; Turkish FM Davutoglu maintains harsh rhetoric, says Turkey must “press hard” on Israel.
The 747 plane chartered by the Defense Ministry carried seven prefabricated homes that have all the necessary electric wiring and can be lived in immediately by people who lost their homes in Sunday’s earthquake that devastated the eastern province of Van and killed more than 460 people. The plane, which will land in Ankara, is also carrying warm clothes, blankets and mattresses.
“We believe that if we will press hard enough on Israel, we will bring it to a situation where it will be convinced that it needs to carry out its part of moving the diplomatic process forward and establishing a Palestinian state,” Israel Radio translated and quoted Davutoglu as saying.
His words, meanwhile, did not surprise officials in Jerusalem who had low expectations that the humanitarian aid would significantly improve the badly strained relationship with Ankara.