Turkish foreign minister says Israel should not 'chase empty dreams'

Turkish foreign minister says Israel should not 'chase empty dreams'

Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus has accused Israel of seeking to deepen divisions across the Middle East in its pursuit for a 'promised land'.

“Israel should not chase empty dreams,” Kurtulmus said during a civil society gathering in Kirsehir, according to Al Jazeera.

“Israel’s main goal is for the peoples of this region to fall out with each other, to fight each other, and to realise its own ‘promised land’,” he added.

However, he said, Turkey "will bring this region together and continue on our path".

Kurtulmus said Israel had carried out attacks in recent years against Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Qatar, arguing that almost every country in the region had been affected by conflict.

“They want to divide and fragment; we want to unite and integrate,” Kurtulmus said. “They want to scatter; we want to bring people together.”