Awad: Turkey pledged big development projects in Gaza

Awad: Turkey pledged big development projects in Gaza

Dr. Mohammed Awad, the secretary-general of the PA council of ministers in the Gaza Strip, has disclosed Sunday that Turkish government and private foundations have pledged to carry out big development projects in the besieged Gaza Strip.


 


According to Awad, a delegation from the PA government in Gaza comprising him, health minister Dr. Basim Na”im, and Gaza mayor Rafeek Makki have met and discussed with Turkish officials the condition in the coastal Strip and the needs of the 1.5 million Palestinians living there under repressive Israeli economic siege coupled with sealing off the Rafah crossing point from the Egyptian side.


 


He also pointed out that the delegation discussed a number of development projects in various fields, including agriculture, infrastructure, education, and health aspects among other vital fields with Turkish officials, adding “We obtained promises from the Turkish officials we have met of carrying out big development projects in the Gaza Strip“.


 


In education, Awad said that the Palestinian delegation offered free scholarship for Turkish students to learn in Gaza universities as they urged the Turkish foreign ministry to recognize diplomas issued from the universities in Gaza Strip.


 


In this regard, the delegation acknowledged the important role of Turkey in supporting the Palestinian people and their just cause, highlighting that there were proposals to twin a number of Gaza Strip municipalities with their Turkish counterparts, which, according to Awad, would bring more infrastructure and development projects to those Palestinian municipalities.


 


Moreover, Awad revealed that PA premier Ismael Haneyya requested for Turkish experts to help train Palestinian cadres in many specialties that would help upgrade their experience in many fields of knowledge.


 


He also pointed out that the delegation urged the Turkish government to double its efforts in ending the unjust Israeli siege on the Strip, and to highlight that issue in the European arenas, and to stress the point of the urgent need to start the reconstruction of the devastated Strip, adding that the delegation met with the Turkish media outlets, and asked them to pay more attention to the human catastrophe in Gaza.