ANKARA — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Joe Biden discussed the war in Gaza, Sweden’s pending NATO membership and the Turkish bid to purchase new F-16 jets from the United States in a rare phone call between the two on Thursday, an official Turkish statement said.
Erdogan told Biden that the United States bears “a historical responsibility to ensure a permanent cease-fire in the region as soon as possible,” according to a Turkish readout.
Erdogan said that a cease-fire could be achieved swiftly once the United States revokes “its unconditional support” of Israel, the readout noted. “The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza must be stopped as soon as possible,” Erdogan added.
The American side hasn’t released a readout as of this writing.
