President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country will continue "cooperation and solidarity with our Egyptian brothers to stop the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip." Regarding bilateral relations, Erdogan stressed his country’s determination to increase contacts with Egypt “at all levels in order to bring peace and stability to the region.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country will continue "cooperation and solidarity with our Egyptian brothers to stop the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip."
This came during a joint press conference on Wednesday, with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, after the bilateral and joint meeting between delegations in Cairo.
He added: "Our priority is to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza without obstacles."
He stressed that attempts to displace the residents of Gaza from their lands are "absolutely non-existent" and that evacuating the Strip of its residents is "absolutely unacceptable."
He continued: "We will continue cooperation and solidarity with our Egyptian brothers to stop the bloodshed in Gaza."
Regarding bilateral relations, Erdogan stressed his country’s determination to increase contacts with Egypt “at all levels in order to bring peace and stability to the region.”
He invited his Egyptian counterpart to visit Turkey, noting that the visit would be a "new turning point" in relations between the two countries.
The Turkish President stated, "Egypt is making important investments in the defense sector, and I am confident that we will cooperate with it to develop joint projects."
He continued: "We agreed in our consultations today to raise the trade volume to $15 billion in a short time."
Fears in Israel about its credit rating being lowered by international agencies after Moody's
Officials in Israel fear that major credit rating agencies such as Fitch and Standard & Poor's will follow in the footsteps of Moody's, which lowered Tel Aviv's rating to A2 with a negative outlook, especially with the high cost of the war on Gaza and the multiplicity of its fronts.
American and Hebrew media highlighted Israeli concerns about the consequences of Moody's lowering Tel Aviv's credit rating to "A2" with a negative outlook, for the first time ever.
Bloomberg News Agency reported on Wednesday that Israel is experiencing a state of anger due to the first downgrade of its credit rating in nearly 50 years from the credit rating agency Moody's, which has left the markets without any fundamental change so far.
While the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth indicated that senior Finance Ministry officials are seeking to avoid a similar reduction in the credit rating from the two major agencies, Standard & Poor's and Fitch.
According to the newspaper, Israeli Accountant General Yali Rotenberg has scheduled meetings with senior officials of the two agencies in London this week to address their concerns.
Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that Rotenberg also plans to hold meetings with various investors in Europe, to persuade them to invest in Israeli bonds while reassuring them that there are no risks of default.
According to a previous report by the newspaper, it is expected that lowering Israel's credit rating will increase the interest rate on loans that the state is forced to obtain due to the ongoing war on the southern front and instability on the northern front.
Moody's decision will also lead to an increase in interest rates for Israeli companies and households, a possible decline in stock prices on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and a weakening of the shekel against foreign currencies in the near future, according to the same source.
Yesterday, Tuesday, Moody's announced that it reduced the rating of 5 Israeli banks by one level from A2 to A3. According to the decision, the rating of the banks' long-term deposits will be lowered, with negative expectations similar to the expectations presented for the classification of the Israeli economy.
Meanwhile, Calcalist, a website specialized in Israeli economics, said that “if the war escalates, the damage to banks will be more severe than it appears today.”
In the same context, the American website Axios said on Tuesday, “The war is expensive, and with regard to Israel, the bill, estimated at billions of dollars, has become due to be paid.”
He pointed out that Tel Aviv's need to finance the war on Gaza led to the downgrading of its credit rating, pointing out that Israel will need to borrow about 58 billion dollars this year.
The decision to downgrade Israel's rating comes in the wake of a war it has been waging on the Gaza Strip since last October 7, which led it to appear before the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide, in addition to tensions in the north with Lebanese Hezbollah, and attacks in the southern Red Sea against Israeli, American, and British ships. .