Istanbul / Anatolia
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government added their names to criminals like Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, as the Nazis of our time through the crimes against humanity they committed in Gaza.
This came during a speech, on Saturday, at the fifty-third ordinary general assembly of the Science Publishing Foundation in Istanbul.
Erdogan stressed that Israel is a terrorist state implementing a complete genocidal policy against their Palestinian brothers, with unlimited military and diplomatic support from Western powers.
He added that more than 32,000 Palestinians have been martyred so far, and more than 72,000 have been injured as a result of Israeli attacks that directly target civilians.
He pointed out that nearly two million people were forced to leave their homes, and mosques, universities, schools and residential neighborhoods were turned into rubble as a result of the Israeli attacks.
The Turkish President expressed his regret that the Islamic world, with a population of about two billion people, was not able to carry out the duty of brotherhood towards the Palestinian people to the fullest extent.
He continued: “We have all witnessed together how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has turned into a mere piece of paper when it comes to the right to life of innocent Palestinian children, women and civilians.”
He added: “Once again, this stage has shown us that the Islamic world still suffers from very important shortcomings, especially with regard to collective action, exerting effective pressure on Israel and its supporters, and preventing repression and massacres.”
He added: “Of course, there were movements, and many diplomatic efforts were made, but those efforts were not able to prevent the death of innocent children in Gaza from hunger or from being killed by bullets and bombs that were thrown at them.”
He stressed that the United Nations Security Council and the structure of the global system that excludes the Islamic world is only one of these reasons.
He pointed out that the current regime established by the victors of World War II marginalizes Muslims, and that Turkey, with the slogan it launched “The world is greater than five,” objects to this role that was imposed on the Islamic world.
He pointed out that Netanyahu and his government added their names to criminals such as Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot, Franco and others, considering them the Nazis of our time, through the crimes against humanity they committed in Gaza.
President Erdogan stressed that Turkey will continue to do what is necessary to hold Israeli officials accountable for the massacres committed in Gaza before international law.
Regarding extending a helping hand to the Palestinian people in Gaza, Erdogan said: “We have invested in our relations that have recently developed with the Egyptian authorities to deliver aid to Gaza.”
He explained: “40 thousand tons of the total humanitarian aid that we have sent to the region (Gaza) so far via 19 aircraft and 7 civilian ships.”
He pointed out that Turkey and its people have mobilized all their capabilities for the sake of the Palestinian people since the first day of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, indicating that he raised the Palestinian issue and put the people of Gaza in all his meetings and talks with foreign leaders since October 7.
He stated that trucks belonging to the Turkish Red Crescent and other non-governmental organizations transport aid daily to Gaza from the Rafah border gate, as this aid included food supplies, water, cleaning supplies, medical and shelter materials, in addition to 53 ambulances, 1,551 electrical generators, and 8 field hospitals. And 3 thousand tents.
President Erdogan expressed his hope that the amount of aid will increase further during the holy month of Ramadan.
He stressed that they are continuing to treat their sick and wounded Palestinian brothers who were transported to Turkey with their companions.
He stated that they are making intense efforts to ensure national unity and reconciliation among the Palestinians, and that they recently hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara.
He pointed out that the Turkish Minister of the Interior and the head of the Intelligence Service are holding a close dialogue with Hamas and other Palestinian factions, stressing that they are trying to help the Palestinians by all possible means.
Erdogan stated that “Turkey is a country that talks to Hamas leaders about everything clearly and easily and stands strongly behind them.”
Regarding the internal criticism towards him or the Turkish government that it did not do anything for Gaza, President Erdogan stressed that the one who most supports the Palestinian cause at the level of countries and peoples and at the highest levels is Turkey without a doubt.
He said, “Everyone realizes that Tayyip Erdogan stands tall in the same place today as he did 15 years ago when he raised his voice and said the phrase ‘one minute’ in the faces of the killers (Shimon Peres in Davos).”
Erdogan criticized the position of international institutions regarding what is happening in Gaza, saying: “We have all seen and experienced how international institutions, human rights organizations, and media institutions are useless when it comes to Israel.”
Erdogan touched on his incident 21 years ago when he visited the United States before assuming the position of prime minister, and he was then head of the Justice and Development Party, saying: “When we sat around the table with the leaders of America, they asked me about Hamas and they said ‘a terrorist organization.’ So I told them no. “Hamas is not a terrorist organization. On the contrary, it is a ‘resistance organization.’ Now no one can force us to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization.”
A short film was shown in the hall about the Turkish President’s efforts to defend the Palestinian cause. After showing the film, Erdogan stressed that they will do more when they become stronger as a country.
The news published on the official page of Anadolu Agency is an abbreviation of part of the news that is displayed to subscribers via the news streaming system (HAS). In order to register with the agency, please contact the following link.
