Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday expressed the support of “Palestine” for Turkey in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported.
Sources close to Erdogan said Abbas told the Turkish president that the Palestinian people are in full solidarity with Turkey.
The two leaders also discussed regional developments, the sources added.
Relations between Ankara and Washington have soured in recent weeks due to the continued detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is under house arrest and facing terrorism-related charges.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week imposed higher tariffs on imports from Turkey, including a 20 percent duty on aluminum and a 50 percent duty on steel.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has vowed to "retaliate" against the U.S. sanctions, calling the American move a "hostile stance".
Abbas is on the outs with Trump over his decision last December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American embassy there. As a result, Abbas has refused to meet American officials as they continue to promote a peace plan for Israel and the PA.
Erdogan has expressed solidarity for Palestinian Arabs and has blasted Israel even after the two countries signed a comprehensive reconciliation deal in 2016, ending a six-year diplomatic standoff following that incident.
Erdogan recently compared Israel to Nazi Germany, after Israeli forces opened fire on Gazans attempting to breach the Israeli border fence.
He previously accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of having blood on his hands and also insisted that Hamas is not a terrorist organization.