Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has again criticised the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza following the offensive launched by Hamas, where constant bombardments have caused thousands of deaths and collapsed the health system in the Palestinian territory. “Israel’s missile attacks, and missile attacks on Israel, must stop,” Erdoğan said, calling for an immediate ceasefire during a speech to deputies of his AKP party in Ankara.
The Turkish leader re-emphasised the intense diplomatic efforts Turkey is making to stop the conflict and avoid an escalation that would set the Middle East on fire, and launched harsh criticism against the Netanyahu government while stressing that Turkey has no problem with the Israeli people, but only with its government: “We have no problem with the nation of Israel; but we have never approved of the atrocities committed by Israel (in Palestine), acting as a terrorist organisation and not as a state, and we will never approve of them”.
Erdoğan also announced during his speech that a planned official visit to Israel will not take place because of the Israeli army’s “inhumane actions” in Gaza, and insisted that since half of those killed in Gaza are children, Israel cannot argue that it is carrying out an act of self-defence but “brutally deliberate” acts that are “crimes against humanity”.
“There is no other state or army that carries out these inhumane actions,” the Turkish president said again, adding: “The whole West sees Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Israel, you can be a terrorist organisation too, because the West owes you a lot. But Turkey owes you nothing. Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, but a liberation group of mujahideens (Muslim fighters) fighting to protect their land and their people,” Erdoğan said.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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