Turkish foreign minister to visit Spain on Wednesday

ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Madrid on Wednesday on the occasion of Spain's official recognition of Palestine as a state. Fidan will be visiting Madrid 'together with the members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League Contact Group on Gaza, upon the invitation of Spain on the occasion of its decision to recognize the State of Palestine,' a Foreign Ministry statement said. 'The meetings will focus on the efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to encourage more countries to recognize the State of Palestine on the basis of a two-state solution,' it added. Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year. The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine. Source: Anadolu Agency