Thousands march for Gaza, against terrorism in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Tens of thousands of people on Jan. 1 gathered at a massive rally in Istanbul to commemorate the Turkish soldiers killed in a terrorist attack in Iraq and to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The event, which was titled "Mercy for our martyrs, support to Palestine, curse on Israel” and organized by the Turkish Youth Foundation (TÜGVA) and the National Will Platform, lasted for two hours. The rally saw the participation of 250,000 people, including representatives from 308 non-governmental organizations.

The gathering took place in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul following a morning prayer at Istanbul’s iconic mosques on Jan. 1.

Following the morning prayer, the participants began marching towards the Galata Bridge, carrying signs in Turkish, Arabic and English and chanting slogans such as “Martyrs never die, the homeland will not be divided” and “Killer Israel, get out of Palestine.”

During the march, the participants also read with one voice the names of the 12 Turkish soldiers killed in the recent attacks by the PKK terrorist organization in the Claw-Lock Operation area.

The procession was also attended by Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak, former Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, and the head of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and a member of the High Advisory Board of TÜGVA, Bilal Erdoğan.

Platforms on the Galata Bridge displayed tags with "ForFairFuture" written on them, and large screens were set up along with column speakers for the sound system.

At the press platform located at the Karaköy exit of the bridge, numerous local and foreign journalists covered the program.

One of the participants, Süleyman Kayıkçı, who stated that he came from France to join the march, stated, "Unfortunately, the evil and brutality committed by Israel continue. Hopefully, the beginning of the new year will also mark the beginning of peace. Hopefully, the war will end."

Addressing the crowd, Erdoğan criticized the silence of Western countries in the face of civilian deaths in Gaza, highlighting the significance of thousands of people coming together for peace on the first day of the year as a powerful message.

"We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening. We know that the killers of our soldiers who fell in Türkiye’s fight against terrorism and of those killed in Palestine are the same entities. We promise not to remain indifferent, to continue to shout justice and rights to the whole world,” Erdoğan said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has lashed out repeatedly at Israel for the scale of death and destruction caused by its offensive in Gaza. He has accused Israel of "state terrorism" and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "no different" from Adolf Hitler.