Turkey will launch efforts to rebuild damaged infrastructure, hospitals and schools in Gaza if a ceasefire is achieved there, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.
“If a ceasefire is reached, we will do whatever is necessary to compensate for the destruction caused by Israel,” Mr Erdogan said after a trip to Berlin, where he held talks with German leaders.
“We will make efforts to rebuild the damaged infrastructure in Gaza and rebuild the destroyed schools, hospitals, water and energy facilities,” he said.
Earlier in the week Mr Erdogan called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reveal whether Israel had nuclear weapons, and he returned to the issue in his remarks on Saturday, calling for nuclear weapons inspections there.
“As Turkey, we are making this call. Israel's nuclear weapons must be inspected beyond doubt before it is too late. We will follow up on this,” he said.
Mr Erdogan also said the families of Israelis hostages held by the militant group Hamas had sent him a letter requesting that he intervened to secure their release, and added that Turkey's intelligence agency had been instructed to look into the issue.
Mr Erdogan's comments follow a tense one-day trip to Germany, one of Israel's staunchest supporters, during which he doubled down on his criticism of Israel, which he had described as a “terror state” earlier in the week.
In his first trip to Germany in four years, Mr Erdogan suggested that Germany's support for Israel in the Gaza war stemmed from guilt over the Holocaust. He drew a contrast with Turkey, which he said was able to speak without bias.
“The Israeli-Palestinian war should not be evaluated with a psychology of indebtedness. I speak freely because we do not owe anything to Israel,” Mr Erdogan said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday.
“Those who feel indebted to Israel cannot speak freely. We did not go through the Holocaust process, we don't have such situation, because our respect for humanity is different,” the Turkish leader said.
Mr Scholz did not respond directly to Mr Erdogan's remarks but restated Germany's commitment to Israel's right to defend itself.
“If you know Germany, you know that our solidarity with Israel is beyond all question,” Mr Scholz said. “Israel has the right to defend itself. At the same time all lives are equally precious and the suffering in Gaza distresses us.”
The two leaders sought to emphasise areas of agreement, including the importance of their economic ties and support for a deal on Ukrainian grain exports.
Mr Scholz declined to answer a question as to whether he would approve the sale of 40 Eurofighter warplanes to Ankara.
His approval would be needed, as Germany is a member of the consortium that makes them, together with Britain, France, Spain and Italy.
Mr Erdogan said he could go elsewhere if Scholz did not agree.
“We can procure fighter jets from many other places,” he said.
Berlin would also like to see Ankara give its final approval to Sweden's accession to the Nato military alliance.
Though Mr Erdogan has dropped his objections, the Turkish parliament has yet to ratify Sweden's membership.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Abandon
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
