A collected photo of Recep Tayyip Erdogan

ISTANBUL, Sept 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday 
urged the United States to "revise" its decision to deny visas to members of 
the Palestinian Authority to attend the UN General Assembly this month.

A US official on Saturday said that Palestinian Authority president Mahmud 
Abbas was among 80 officials from his authority who would be denied visas to 
attend the UN General Assembly, where France is leading a push to recognise a 
Palestinian state.

The highly unusual decision further aligns President Donald Trump's 
administration with Israel's government, which is fighting a war against 
Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Israel adamantly rejects calls for the creation of a Palestinian state and 
has sought to lump together the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority with 
its rival Hamas which rules Gaza.

Speaking to Turkish journalists on the plane back from China after attending 
a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Erdogan said the US 
decision was "not in line with the raison d'etre" of the United Nations.

"We believe that the decision should be revised as soon as possible," he 
added.

Erdogan, a vocal defender of the Palestinians, has often slammed Israel for 
its war on Gaza, accusing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 
of committing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory.