Erdogan meets U.S Jewish leaders

Washington (IINA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Jewish leaders must stand against Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, Anadolu Agency reported.
The Turkish leader, who is in the U.S. to attend the nuclear summit this week, discussed a number of issues including the European refugee crisis, anti-refugee rhetoric, the rise of racism in the West, counterterrorism efforts, U.S., Israeli and Turkish relations as well as the Palestinian issue, according to presidential sources.
“Unfortunately anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and xenophobic movements have moved from the periphery to the center of politics”, Erdogan reportedly said during the closed meeting. “We need to cooperate against these movements”.
On their part, Jewish representatives paid their condolences to the Turkish president for recent attacks in Istanbul and Ankara and thanked him for Turkey’s care of Israeli tourists who were killed and wounded in an attack in Istanbul earlier this month.
The meeting comes at a time when Turkey and Israel are trying to repair a damaged relationship following a deadly assault in 2010 on a Turkish-flagged ship that was part of an aid flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza strip.
The meeting seeks to strengthen relations between Turkish and Jewish communities despite differences, according to the president's office.
Jewish leaders said that recent reports regarding Israeli forces’ violence against Palestinians in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque were mostly part of a “disinformation” campaign. Erdogan stressed to the group that he had heard accounts that were contrary to their claims.
AG/IINA

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