Erdoğan urges unity in Islamic world amid Israeli massacres
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged the Islamic world that the only way to prevent Israeli expansionism and bring an end to the massacres against Muslims in Palestine and Lebanon is to stand united and leave internal disputes behind.
“It is of great importance that the Islamic world sets aside its differences of opinion and supports the people of Palestine and Lebanon in their rightful struggle,” Erdoğan said in his address at the opening event of the 40th session of COMCEC (Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation) in Istanbul on Nov. 4.
Describing the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023 as one of the most brutal genocides of the last century, which has killed approximately 50,000 civilians, Erdoğan said “For 13 months, the Zionist regime and its supporters have carried out various forms of oppression and genocide. However, they were unable to get our Palestinian brothers to bow down.”
Erdoğan said one of the Israeli ways to defeat the Palestinians’ resistance is to leave them without proper food, water and other basic needs, comparing Gaza with the extermination camps set up in Nazi Germany during World War II.
He called on all countries, particularly Islamic nations, to put pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to avoid new pains in the enclave.
Recalling that the Israeli parliament has banned the activities of the UNRWA, a key U.N. body providing assistance to Palestinians since 1949, Erdoğan called on members of the OIC countries to increase their aid to the U.N. institution.
Erdoğan has once again slammed the international community for not doing enough to stop Israel’s “death machine” in Gaza and Lebanon, while also underlining that the Islamic world is also falling short in expressing support to Palestine.
He urged that the disunity in the Islamic world will allow Israel to spread the conflict to the rest of the region.
“More states recognizing the state of Palestine would be one of the best responses to the Zionist aggression against Gaza and Lebanon,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan departs for Bishkek
In the meantime, President Erdoğan departed for Kyrgyzstan to attend the summit of the Organization of the Turkic States on Nov. 4 and 5. In Bishkek, he will join the summit and hold bilateral meetings with the participants. He is expected to go to Hungary on Nov. 6 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Türkiye-Hungary Friendship Treaty.