Turkish government has pledged to take measures against Israel following Jewish state's bombing campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip, but analysts think Ankara can do nothing more than mobilize international and regional groups in opposing the Israeli aggression.

"What we witnessed in the last couple of days ... is yet another brutal series of indiscriminate aerial bombings on Gaza, killing innocent people, including children and women," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told audience at the foreign ministers meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Djibouti.

"We call upon the international community and the UN to take principled action against this aggression and stop it immediately, " he said.

The Israeli attack also incurred anger in the Turkish parliament with many members expressing condemnation. Describing attacks as the latest example of aggression by Jewish state, Volkan Bozkir, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Commission of the parliament, called the international community to help end the bloodshed.

Turkey and Israel are already at odds with each other as they downgraded relations following the 2009 Israeli attack against Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, during which nine Turks were killed.

Before that, tensions between Israel and Turkey took a nose- dive after Israel launched an operation in late 2008, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, which Turkey severely criticized Israel and urged the UN Security Council act upon.

In terms the current conflict, Turkey can do nothing more than mobilize international and regional groups in acting against the Israeli aggression on Gaza, Idris Gursoy, an analyst based in the Turkish capital of Ankara, told Xinhua.



Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu held talks on Thursday with his Egyptian counterpart as well as with Hamas Political Bureau Chief Khaled Meshaal.

Speculation has it that Turkey may join forces with Egypt to exert pressure on the United States, which is the main international backer of Israel and has voiced its support to the aggression against Hamas, listed as terrorist organization by Washington.

Also, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to make a two-day visit to Egypt on Saturday, with the company of 12 ministers, where the Israeli offensive will be on their agenda.

However, to what extent the strong position of Turkey and Egypt against Israel will impact the Jewish state's military incursion into Gaza remains unclear, experts said.

"Israel may be dissuaded from proceeding with the operation when it sees a formidable alliance of Turkey and Egypt, which is under the new leadership of President Morsi," Mesut Cevikalp, an expert on Turkish diplomacy with weekly magazine Aksiyon, told Xinhua.

"During the previous Israeli assault against Gaza in 2008 and 2009, Egypt was ruled by Hosni Mubarak, a friend to the United States and Israel, but this has changed," he noted.

But he too pointed out that "on the bilateral level, Turkey does not have much leverage at its disposal against Israel as it has severed political and defense ties with it already."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul also appealed to the United States to convince Israel to stop the aggression towards Gaza. " Turkey and the entire world are waiting for the United States to warn Israel about the necessity to stop air strikes on the Gaza Strip."

"As long as Israel does have the backing of the United States, I do not think Turkey can do anything to stop this aggression," Koray Caliskan, a lecturer of Political Science and International Relations at Bogazici University in Istanbul. "All Turkey can do is to help rally international organizations," he added.