Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he does not trust the United Nations due to its failure in the Syrian crisis, while condemning recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Tuesday.

Erdogan also criticized the U.N. Security Council over the Israeli attacks.

"When asked how much I trust the U.N., I said 'I do not trust it at all,' because the U.N. is a manifestation of war conditions," he said. "There is an entity in which only certain beliefs can be represented. There is no country in the Security Council that has a Muslim community. Will it make decisions for our benefit?"

The Turkish PM suggested that the U.N. should not have divisions such as permanent and temporary membership statuses.

Erdogan also said the U.N. Security Council failed to do what was needed to be done to address the situation with Syrian refugees.

"What is the Security Council doing? It is just watching and advising," Erdogan underscored.

Erdogan, on the other hand, pressed ahead with his criticism of Israel, describing it on Monday as a "terrorist state" in carrying out its bombardment of Gaza.

"Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of the mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza," he told a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul.

"For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts," he said.

Meanwhile, Gaza is waiting for ministers from a dozen countries after the Israeli air strikes on the region that proceeded for seven days, Anadolu news agency reported. They are expected to visit the wounded, relatives of those killed and buildings that were damaged in the Israeli offensive.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the foreign ministers of 11 other countries which are members of the Arab League will reportedly visit Gaza on Tuesday to extend support to Palestine.

The ministers will get together at the Rafah Border Gate at the Egyptian-Palestinian border. The delegation of ministers will proceed to Gaza along with Hamas officials and will visit those receiving treatment at the Shifa Hospital.

The ministers will exchange views with officials in Gaza.

Besides, US President Barack Obama is sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Middle East for talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to seek a de-escalation of the violence in Gaza, the White House was quoted by Reuters as saying on Tuesday.

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in Cambodia that Clinton would leave for the region later on Tuesday.

Clinton will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and with Palestinian Authority leaders in Ramallah, Rhodes said. She will later travel to Cairo.

Rhodes said the message of her trip will be that it is in nobody's interest for there to be an escalation of military conflict in Gaza.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that he would also visit Israel and request from Israeli officials to end the violence and be committed to international law.

Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said that he had called on all sides to end the violence, Anadolu reported.

Speaking at a press conference with the head of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi in Cairo, the UN secretary general said urgent measures had to be taken to prevent an escalation of tension.

"I personally call on all sides to end the violence," Ban Ki-moon underlined.

On the other hand, Russia has tabled a draft resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an immediate end to the violence in the Gaza Strip, Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin confirmed to reporters, the Voice of Russia radio station reported.

According to him, in accordance with UNSC procedural rules, the document will be up for a vote on Tuesday afternoon local time (midnight Wednesday in Moscow).

The draft resolution calls for "an immediate, durable and fully observed end of the violence" in the Palestinian enclave, and supports all efforts aimed at a speedy way out of the situation.

The document also calls on Israel and the Palestinian Authority "to immediately resume negotiations in order to reach a peace agreement."

The proposed resolution also suggests that the Security Council members condemn "violence against civilians", and calls on the parties to "provide safe and unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people", besides responding to the serious economic challenges facing the Palestinian authorities.

About 100 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, have been killed since Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian enclave of 1.7 million was launched on November 14 with an airstrike that killed the head of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari. The airstrike came after a reported surge in rocket attacks on Israeli border towns from Gaza, which has been governed by Hamas since 2007. Three Israeli civilians have been reportedly killed since the operation start by rockets fired from Gaza.