Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin conveyed Israel’s “sincere condolences,” its “sympathy to the bereaved families” and its “wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded” to the people of Turkey.
President Reuven Rivlin on Monday sent a letter of condolence to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following Saturday’s terror attack in Gaziantep carried out by an Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist which claimed the lives of 51.
Israel is “shocked and saddened to hear of the barbaric bombing attack” that took the lives of “so many and injured so very many more innocent people gathered to celebrate a wedding,” Rivlin wrote. “We stand beside the people of Turkey at this sad time.”
Rivlin wrote that this latest attack “once again proves how vital it is” that Israel and Turkey unite in the fight against “those who are willing to kill and maim innocent people in order to promote their own goals.”
“We must all cooperate in all ways we can, in order to put a stop to such senseless bloodshed and destruction that has already destroyed the lives of so many,” he wrote.
He conveyed Israel’s “sincere condolences,” its “sympathy to the bereaved families” and its “wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded” to the people of Turkey.
On Sunday, the prime minister’s office conveyed Israel condolences after the attack saying that “to defeat terror, the international community needs to join forces and fight it with strength and determination.”
Turkey has been rocked by a wave of attacks in the past year that have either been claimed by Kurdish militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party — known by its acronym PKK — or were blamed on ISIS. In June, suspected ISIS terrorists attacked Istanbul’s main airport with guns and bombs, killing 44 people.
In March, three Israelis were killed in an ISIS bombing in Turkey.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel