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"We will continue to stand by Palestine with all means at our disposal"

Presidency Of The Republic Of Turkey

26.04.2024

Addressing the 5th Conference of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds, President Erdoğan said: "We should endeavor together to make sure the tragedy of our Gazan brothers and sisters is not put on the back burner. As Türkiye, we will continue to stand by Gaza and Palestine with all means at our disposal."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the 5th Conference of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds in Istanbul.

President Erdoğan said: "We determinedly continue our efforts with the belief that defending Al-Quds means defending humanity, defending peace, defending respect for different faiths. I extend my gratitude to the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds, which lends support to this blessed struggle we have been putting up in the name of humanity and peace. May Allah duly reward your efforts."

"MODERN DAY HITLER AND NAZIS ARE THE MURDERERS WHO HAVE KILLED MORE THAN 15 THOUSAND CHILDREN IN GAZA"

The Palestinian people, whose lands have been occupied stage by stage in the past century, have today been subjected to one of the cruelest oppressions of history, stressed the President, and stated: "I hereby salute once again the Palestinian heroes, who, with their fight, are defending the honor of the entire humanity together with that of Al-Quds'. On my and my nation's behalf, I salute with respect Palestine's brave children who are standing up against the occupying oppressors. I thank all the conscientious people who are displaying solidarity with our Palestinian and Gazan brothers and sisters all across the world. Words are no longer enough to describe what has been going on since October 7. Those, who seek to see modern-day pharaohs, do not need to go far away, they should just look at those, who have mercilessly massacred 35 thousand Palestinians in the past 203 days. Modern day Hitler and Nazis are the murderers who have killed more than 15 thousand children in Gaza. Netanyahu, just like the murderers before him, has gone down in history as the 'Butcher of Gaza' in shame. No matter what he will do, this dark stain stuck on his forehead will never be removed."

President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: "Whenever we talk like this, some people immediately get annoyed. The Israeli administration, just like every criminal whose crimes are told to their faces, assume they can silence us by accusing us of anti-Semitism. They assume they can cover up the murders they have committed in Gaza with the power of press and lobby in their hands. Let me hereby remind them once again the fact that whatever you do, however you try is futile. You cannot chain Tayyip Erdoğan's heart or words. We will by no means bow down to your threats or pressures."

"NO ONE CAN EXPECT US TO REMAIN SILENT TO THE GENOCIDE"

Underscoring that no one can expect Türkiye to remain silent to a genocide while its Palestinian brothers and sisters have been resisting on their own and defending the honor of the entire humanity despite all the impossibilities, President Erdoğan said: "Just because Israel and its western supporters want it so, we cannot be one of those, who are casting aspersions on Hamas by calling it a terrorist organization. We cannot label 'Palestinian resisters' as terrorists through the notions of legionnaires and mercenary journalists who serve Israel voluntarily or in exchange for money. We do not care whether they get annoyed, or they get surprised. We will continue to see our brothers and sisters of Hamas, who are defending their homeland against occupiers, as the Kuvayımilliye (National Forces) of Palestine. We will not refrain from voicing this fact boldly on every platform as much as we can through our words. With our voice, words, prayers, humanitarian aid and with all the means in our hands, we will support the Palestinian cause and the noble and dignified resistance our Gazan brothers and sisters have been displaying. I openly expressed our sagacious stance on this issue to Hamas political leadership with whom I met last week. I clearly told them that we share the grief of our brothers and sisters, whose children, grandchildren, or relatives have died a martyr's death during Israel's attacks."

"WE WILL CONTINUE TO ENDEAVOR FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT PALESTINIAN STATE"

President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: "I explained them that we as the children of a gallant nation, who waged an independence fight against the imperialist powers that had occupied their lands a century ago, stand by them in their rightful cause. Inshallah, we will not back down on this, and will continue to endeavor sincerely in order for an independent, sovereign and geographically-integrated Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East al-Quds as its capital, to be established."

Stressing that no excuse can justify the genocide that has been uninterruptedly going on in Gaza for 203 days, President Erdoğan noted: "Whether you approve of the incidents that took place on October 7 is a matter of your perspective. However, by putting it forward as a pretext, you cannot justify the killing of newborn babies in incubators; the dropping of tons of bombs over civilians, the maltreatment of martyrs' bodies; the massacre of people queuing for a loaf of bread; the deliberately targeting of mosques, churches, schools, hospitals; the transformation of Gaza into a burial site with mass graves. In short you cannot justify the non-compliance with even the minimum requirements of the law of war. That a mentality celebrates its child's birthday by killing Gazan infants means it no longer has a tie with basic humanitarian values."

"Before criticizing us, the Israeli administration should confront this atrocity and learn to act with the mindset of a law-abiding state, not of a terrorist organization. Our attitude towards Israeli officials will not change until they do that," warned President Erdoğan, and added: "Türkiye is a country that has never committed genocide, engaged in colonialism or touched innocent people even in wartime in any period of its history of more than two thousand years. We have always opened our doors to anyone who has been in trouble regardless of their faith, origin or identity. We have stood by the Jews fleeing from the Inquisition as well as the Jewish scientists escaping the Nazi persecution. From the Caucasus to the Balkans, Africa to Asia, we have rushed to the aid of anyone who has faced oppression. Just as we have embraced our Syrian neighbors throughout the conflicts that broke out 13 years ago, we have also become a safe harbor for the refugees fleeing from Ukraine."

"WE ARE ONE OF THE TOP DONORS OF HUMANITARIAN AID"

Describing Türkiye as one of the top donors of humanitarian aid in proportion to national income, President Erdoğan said: "We work to put out the fire without observing self-interests wherever there is a stability or conflict. We sincerely strive for peace, serenity, prosperity and security to prevail in our region. Türkiye ranks first in aid to Gaza. The humanitarian aid supplies we have delivered to Gaza by 13 planes and 9 vessels since October 7 have neared 50 thousand tons in total. We have transferred 900 Gazans and their attendants to Türkiye for treatment."

President Erdoğan went onto say: "Besides humanitarian aid, we also give out hot meals to 10 thousand people per day through the Turkish Red Crescent's soup kitchen in Rafah. We ensure the flow of 7 tons of drinking water per day to Gaza to meet the clean drinking water need in Gaza. In terms of commerce, Türkiye is also the only country to impose restrictions on exports to Israel in 54 product groups. Long before the start of the Gaza massacres, we had already ceased the sale of materials that could be employed for military purposes to Israel. We have thus consolidated this position of ours with the decision we took on April 9 for the restriction of exports."

Highlighting an issue that he described as truly saddening, President Erdoğan stated: "You know, local elections were held last month in our country. During the election period, we experienced grave injustices and slanders on this issue. Even though the prices we have had to pay to defend the Palestinian cause are well known, some folks, also with the logistical support provided by enemies of Türkiye, have tried to cast a shadow over our country's and nation's strong support for the Palestinian resistance. They have carried out this dirty campaign not because they are incognizant of the essence of the issue but because their ambitions get ahead of their minds and consciences. They even went so far as to cast the aspersion that 'Jet fuel was sold to Israel. Do you have any conscience? Is it possible for Tayyip Erdoğan and his friends to take such a step? Many more allegations like this, which are beyond reason, conscience and morality, have been brought to the agenda. What is more alarming is that these baseless allegations have been propagated and used against our country in the international and social media by foreign circles that are annoyed by Türkiye's firm stance. It was really hurtful. We were hurt."

"WE CONTINUE OUR DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS FOR A LASTING CEASEFIRE IN GAZA"

"As of the morning of April 1, it has been seen that this propaganda, which raised question marks even among our brothers and sisters well aware of Türkiye's efforts, is hollow. However, its traces are still visible as Turkey's spotless record in the Palestinian cause has been tainted for the sake of petty political gains. Under the guise of defending the rights of Gazans, they have tried to defame and intimidate our country, the biggest supporter of Palestine. This time around, the same circles are resorting to similar lies regarding the Radar Base in Kürecik, Malatya. They work to exploit this issue, all aspects of which we have already explained repeatedly. The radar base in Kürecik does not have, and cannot have, any relation, connection or affiliation with any state outside of the security of our country and alliance. The Republic of Türkiye would not allow such a thing, nor has it allowed," said President Erdoğan, adding: "Politics cannot be conducted through lies, distortions and manipulations. Politics cannot be carried out by slandering one's own state and nation. The basic rule of both the law and the politics is clear: The plaintiff has the burden of proof, otherwise he is a slanderer. If you have any documents or evidences, you shall come out and prove your claims. Unless you do so, take no offence but you cannot avoid being labelled as a slanderer. I invite all the actors in our country, including those operating in the realms of civil society, press or politics, to use a more careful language on the Palestine issue."

Underscoring that no one has the luxury of casting a shadow over Türkiye's exemplary stance on the Palestinian issue just to gain popularity, President Erdoğan said: "Without caring about such campaigns, we have been continuing our diplomatic efforts since day one for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza. We have stepped up our talks for the elimination of the discord between the Palestinian government and Palestinian groups with the belief that there is no mercy without unity. We have also intensified our efforts to increase the recognition of the State of Palestine, which is currently recognized by 140 states. I would like to stress our appreciation of the stance taken by the Spanish Government and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez regarding the recognition of Palestine. I also call on the states preparing to recognize the State of Palestine to stand firm in the face of pressures. I would like make it clear that it is both a grave shame and a major injustice that the Palestinian people does not have a state of their own which is a full member of the United Nations."

Noting that this injustice should be remedied immediately, President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: "A step in this direction was blocked with the U.S. veto at the Security Council last week. With its veto, the U.S. disregarded the will of not only the Palestinian people but also other member states of the Security Council. We do not accept this decision, which further spoils Israel. With the unconditional military and diplomatic support it lends to Israel, the U.S. administration is not contributing to settlement but rather causing the escalation of the problem. This is best evidenced by the fact that the U.S. Senate has approved the $25 billion military aid bill for Israel while 35 thousand people have been brutally massacred in Gaza. Backing Israel instead of acting as a fair mediator does not serve any purpose other than the deepening and spread of the crises in our region. Instead of reiterating the baseless allegations against our country over the 1915 incidents, the U.S. administration should look at Gaza, see Israel's genocide attempts in Gaza, and endeavor to prevent it. We reject Western countries' hypocritical policies in the Palestinian issue that are no longer tolerable to us. The U.S. veto once again proves the validity of our declaration, 'the World is bigger than five'."

"IN THE GAZA CRISIS, WE HAVE SEEN FIRST-HAND THE GLOBAL DOMINANCE OF ZIONISM"

Stressing that the Gaza crisis has laid bare the global dominance of Zionism, particularly in the U.S. and European countries, President Erdoğan stated: "This process has revealed how the Zionist network has taken captive economy, trade, media, arts, cinema, thought, and the academic world. We have all witnessed how those who have been lecturing us on democracy, and freedom of thought and assembly for years, have turned out to be fascistic when it comes to Israel and its interests. Such values of the West as democracy, freedom, law, expression, thought, and freedom of press have immediately been forgotten or shelved when it is Israel that is at stake. We, just as the whole world, follow with concern the incidents that have been taking place in American universities over the past week. Those, who camped out in Istanbul during Gezi incidents, do not see Palestinian protests. Scholars, journalists, writers, artists and politicians, who respond to the oppression in Gaza, are lynched, so to speak. International media outlets cannot raise their voice or voice even a single sentence about their over 140 fellow journalists killed in Gaza. It has been understood clearly in the past seven months that how Zionism has created a horrible climate of terror in almost every area, has instilled fear in politicians, as blackmailed them, and has put states under pressure. The United Nations Security Council has failed to influence Israel and prevent the massacres in Gaza."

"WE SHOULD STEP UP OUR EFFORTS TO STOP ISRAEL"

"I regret to say that the 2-billion Islamic world has failed in the Gaza test. It is impossible to maintain the current structure that leaves the fate of the entire humanity to the mercy of five countries. We believe that 'a fairer world is possible.' But we have to work harder together to achieve this. I believe that we will get closer to the goal of a fairer world with the support of you, the parliamentarians who have the love for Al-Quds in their hearts. We should endeavor together to make sure the tragedy of our Gazan brothers and sisters is not put on the back burner. We should step up our efforts to stop Israel and hold all the perpetrators, particularly Netanyahu that is called the butcher, accountable before the law. Our friends are currently carrying out works in collaboration with South Africa. They continue their contacts with the International Court of Justice. For our part, we are following their works. As Türkiye, we will continue to stand by Gaza and Palestine with all means at our disposal."