Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lambasted the United Nations’ inaction in Gaza and accused Israel of turning the Palestinian territory into “the world’s largest cemetery of children and women.”
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, he said: “In Gaza, it is not only children who are dying, but also the United Nations system. The values that the West claims to uphold are dying, the truth is dying, and humanity’s hopes for a more just world are dying, one by one.”
“I ask you bluntly: Are the people of Gaza and the occupied West Bank not human beings? Do the children of Palestine have no rights?”
Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel’s Gaza offensive, also lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for dragging the Middle East region “deeper into war.” He urged the international community to stop “Netanyahu and his network of assassinations,” comparing the premier to Adolf Hitler.
“Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murderous network must be stopped by the ‘alliance of humanity,'” he said.
The Turkish president called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli military operations have left at least 41,467 dead. In Israel, the death toll from attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7 stands at least 1,139, while more than 200 people have been captured.
“An immediate and permanent ceasefire must be reached, an exchange of hostages and prisoners must be carried out and humanitarian aid must be delivered to Gaza without hindrance or interruption,” Erdogan said.
Other regional leaders also spoke out against Israel’s war on Gaza at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
Jordanian King Abdullah II has ruled out the possibility of his country becoming an “alternative homeland” for Palestinians, warning that their forced displacement by Israel would be a “war crime.”
He said he was responding to proposals put forward by “extremists who are bringing our region to the brink of all-out war.”
The sovereign urged the international community to join “a massive relief effort to provide food, clean water, medicine and other vital supplies” to the Gaza Strip, where nearly a year of war has unleashed “unprecedented suffering.”
“I urge all nations of conscience to join with Jordan in the critical weeks ahead in this mission,” he said.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has declared Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip a “genocide” as he addressed world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
“The blatant aggression that is being inflicted today on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is the most barbaric, heinous and widespread aggression,” he said, calling the conflict a “crime of genocide.”
“A clear genocide”
Besides Gaza, Erdogan has also thrown his support behind Lebanon, where Israel has launched widespread attacks against Hezbollah in recent days.
Speaking about the latest wave of deadly Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the Turkish leader said: “What more are you waiting for to stop the network of massacres that endangers the lives of its own citizens as well as the Palestinian people and drags the entire region into war in the name of its political perspectives?”
He criticized the UN Security Council for failing to order a halt to fighting in Gaza and Lebanon.
“UN Security Council, what are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in Gaza and to say ‘stop’ to this cruelty, to this barbarity?” he asked.
Erdogan pointed to countries that support Israel “unconditionally,” asking: “How long will you be able to bear the shame of witnessing this massacre?”
“I would like to state very clearly and loudly here that the Israeli government does not respect basic human rights, tramples on international law at every opportunity and practices ethnic cleansing – a clear genocide against a nation,” Erdogan said.
He said that when the UN was established, expectations for global stability, peace and justice were reborn.
“To put it bluntly, unfortunately, in recent years the United Nations has failed to fulfill its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure,” he said.