MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. Moscow and Ankara see eye to eye on the issue of the Middle East conflict regarding the creation of independent Palestine, the Kremlin said following a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"It was emphasized that the positions of Russia and Turkey are practically identical and focused on the implementation of the well-known two-state formula, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestine coexisting with Israel in peace and security," the statement reads.

The previous telephone conversation between the leaders of Russia and Turkey took place on October 10. They stressed that a long-term peace settlement would be possible only on the basis of the two-state formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement attacked Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has announced a total blockade of Gaza and carried out strikes on targets inside Lebanon and Syria. Hostilities have also broken out on the West Bank.