PM to visit Palestine

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he is planning to visit the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, to monitor the status of an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Speaking before his deputies in a parliamentary group meeting yesterday, Erdogan said that he would visit the West Bank and Gaza with Turkish relief organizations to see the latest situation with respect to the Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza and work to improve the humanitarian conditions. While talking about his phone conversation with Netanyahu, which was also briefly joined by US President Barack Obama, Erdogan said he first heard Netanyahu but insisted that he wanted to speak to Obama first. "I said, 'I missed Mr. Obama's voice. I want to talk to him first'," Erdogan said. He also stated that Israeli apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara incident changed equation in the Middle East peace process as the bilateral deal obligates Israel to cooperate with the Turkish government over this process. "The point we have arrived as a result of our consultations with all our brothers in Palestine and peripheral countries is increasing our responsibility with regard to solving the Palestinian question and thus is bringing about a new equation," Erdogan said.