The Turkish government claims that Ankara played a decisive role in preventing the participation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in today's summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, DPA and Turkish media reported, BTA reported.
“At the initiative of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, through Turkey's diplomatic efforts and with the support of other heads of state and government, Netanyahu did not attend the meeting in Egypt“, a Turkish government official told DPA.
However, Israel presented the situation differently. At noon, the Egyptian president's office announced Netanyahu's participation, and shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Netanyahu's office denied this. According to Israeli authorities, Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for the invitation to participate in the meeting, but was unable to make the trip due to time constraints related to the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, DPA notes.
At the same time, many media outlets in Turkey reported that the Turkish president's plane delayed its landing in Egypt after reports emerged that Netanyahu might participate in the meeting, and the head of the Ankara office of the Turkish media outlet “TGRT Haber“ Fatih Atık, stated that Erdogan instructed his plane to “turn back” after learning about Netanyahu's possible presence in Egypt, the “Türkiye Today” website reported.