Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shakes hands with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 30, 2025. (Credit: Murat Kula/Press Office of the Turkish Presidency/via Reuters) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shakes hands with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Istanbul, Turkey, on December 30, 2025. Photo Murat Kula/Press Office of the Turkish Presidency/via REUTERS
U.S. President Donald Trump has “invited” his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to sit on the Gaza Peace Council, Turkey’s communications office announced on Saturday.
“On Jan. 16, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump, in his capacity as founding president of the Peace Council, sent a letter inviting our president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to become a founding member of the Peace Council,” wrote Burhanettin Duran, Turkey’s communications director, on X. Erdogan had not immediately commented on the announcement.
Turkey’s top diplomat, Hakan Fidan, has also been appointed to take part in the executive committee overseen by the Peace Council, his ministry confirmed to AFP on Saturday.
Turkey, which maintains close ties with the political leadership of the Palestinian movement Hamas and is a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, was involved in the Gaza ceasefire agreement signed in Egypt in October.
Ankara has said it is ready to participate in any deployment of a monitoring force for the agreement, as well as in reconstruction efforts in the Palestinian territory devastated by two years of Israeli bombardment in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli territory on Oct. 7, 2023.
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