Palestinian President Abbas invites Türkiye’s Main Opposition Leader

The leader of Türkiye’s main opposition party, the CHP (Republican People’s Party), Ozgur Ozel, held a phone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after being unable to attend Abbas’s recent address to the Turkish Parliament due to an injury.

Abbas expressed his well wishes to Ozel, who was absent from the parliamentary session because of a broken foot. During their discussion, Abbas extended an open invitation for Ozel to visit Palestine, saying, “You are welcome to visit your second country, Palestine. You may come at any time you choose to observe the situation of your Palestinian brothers closely.”

Ozel expressed his regret for not being able to attend the session and reiterated his party’s long-standing support for the Palestinian cause. “The CHP has always stood by the rightful struggle of the Palestinian people,” Ozel said. He also reminded Abbas that after becoming the party’s leader, he had sent letters to 119 world leaders urging them to recognize an independent Palestinian state and highlighted his efforts to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza during his foreign visits.

In his remarks, Ozel reaffirmed his backing for the two-state solution, emphasizing, “We see the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as essential. We fully support the two-state solution.”

Abbas’s speech to the Turkish Parliament, in which he announced his intention to visit Gaza, was widely covered by international media.