UNITED NATIONS - Turkey has brought up the issue of Gaza in this year's last meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Wednesday.
Turkey's Permanent Representative at the UN, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, reminded the Council that it has been one year since Israel's military operation waged against Gaza on December 27.
In a statement made on Wednesday, Apakan said that the Turkish delegation tried to bring up the difficult conditions that the people of Gaza live under every time the situation in the Middle East came up at the Council in the past 12 months.
Ambassador Apakan said that Turkey made a call to the Council for the implementation of resolution 1860, to facilitate the transportation of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, to improve Gaza's socio-economic structure and reconstruction of the region.
Despite all the calls, Turkey feels regret that the humanitarian situation in Gaza has not improved, Ambassador Apakan stressed.
We can not permit the continuation of the status quo in Gaza. We can not close our eyes to the human tragedy in Gaza. The UN Security Council's resolution 1860 must be implemented without further delay, Apakan also said.
UN resolution 1860 was approved by the Security Council on January 8, 2009 and made a call to the sides for an urgent, permanent cease-fire. The resolution also made a demand from Israel to completely withdraw its forces from Gaza and facilitate transportation into and from Gaza.
Out of 15 members of the UN Security Council, 14 voted "yes" for the resolution 1860. Only the United States abstained.