Humza Yousaf has denied the invite was related to the evacuation of his family from Gaza (Image: Getty)
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Humza Yousaf has defended inviting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Scotland, in a move that has been criticised by political commentators on GB News.
Appearing on the show Headliners, guest Leo Kearse said: "He's denied this invite is linked to Turkey helping his family flee Gaza. Quite of a lot of members of his family were stuck in Gaza."
Mr Kearse - who branded the leader "the first minister of Gaza" - added: "What's interesting is Humza criticises Israel, he's constantly hammering on about war crimes, and that we need to stop the bombing in Gaza."
The SNP leader has denied the invite to Mr Erdogan was related to evacuating his family members from Gaza.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf admits SNP facing 'most difficult time' and hints at huge change
President Erdogan has led Turkey for around 20 years (Image: Getty)
The SNP leader has previously said his family was "highly relieved" that his in-laws left Gaza after being trapped in the territory for more than three weeks. The first minister's parents-in-law had been unable to leave following the deadly attacks on October 7, 2023.
Asked about the invitation to the Turkish president, Mr Yousaf told reporters at Holyrood, as stated in the BBC: "Why on earth would Scotland not look to seek to engage with a Nato ally and of course with somebody we would seek to do business and trade with?"
Furthermore, the First Minister said he would raise human rights concerns "as I tend to do whenever I have meetings with international leaders".
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The First Minister first sparked a diplomatic row with Westminster after he was pictured speaking with Erdogan while attending the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.
Host of the GB News show, Andrew Doyle, also stated the SNP leader was pledging to raise "human rights concerns" with the leader.
Mr Kearse argued that Humza was "going to get a selfie" with the Turkish President instead, during the visit.
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Erdogan has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause and has strongly condemned Israel’s offensive on Gaza.
Western allies in Jordan and the Gulf states have also offered rhetorical support for the Palestinians, but Erdogan has been more vocal in supporting Hamas, putting him at odds with Europe.
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The number of civilians killed in Gaza has risen to 24,762 after 142 people were killed in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said.
This follows October 7, when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Since the 7 October attacks, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warplanes have carried out air strikes across Gaza while its troops have moved through the territory.
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