Haniyeh: 'Turkey is fighting to lift the siege of Gaza'

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday that Turkey is “fighting” in every way to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

“I haven’t forgotten about Turkey, which sacrificed for the Palestinians in the Freedom Flotilla, and which continues to fight diplomatically and politically to help lift the siege on the Gaza Strip,” Haniyeh told a press conference at the inauguration ceremony for a number of Qatar-funded projects. Nine humanitarian activists were killed when Israeli occupation forces carried out a violent attack on the Turkish-flagged aid flotilla on 31 May 2010 as it headed for the Gaza Strip.

Haniyeh called on Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing fully and to allow the movement of both goods and individuals. “We thank Egypt for facilitating the entry of the construction material required for these projects and we call on [the Egyptian government] to open the Rafah border crossing permanently, around the clock,” said the prime minister.

Thanking Qatar for its support for Gaza, Mr Haniyeh noted that the projects the Gulf State is funding represent a turning point for the besieged territory. “It only took one hour with His Highness Emir Hamad, just one hour, to approve these projects worth $400 million,” he added.