Turkiye and Qatar are seeking to intensify efforts to bring lasting peace and tranquility to the region, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday. This came during a meeting with Qatar's Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is on an official visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara, to discuss bilateral ties between the two countries, as well as to discuss the continued Israeli occupation aggression on the Palestinian territories. In a statement issued by the Turkish presidency, Erdogan expressed his country's determination, in cooperation with Qatar, to increase efforts aimed at achieving permanent peace and tranquillity in the region. The Israeli occupation, through the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, showed once again that it does not intend to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Turkish president added. Erdogan also stressed the need for the international community to take effective steps to stop the recent increas ing aggression of the Israeli occupation, indicating that the occupation forces seek to increase tension in the region through their attacks in both the Palestinian territories and Lebanon. On the other hand, Erdogan stressed Turkiye's full determination to raise cooperation with Qatar to higher levels in all fields, especially economic relations. Source : Kuwait News Agency