"Defending Palestine means defending humanity, peace and justice"
Presidency Of The Republic Of Turkey
18.04.2025
Addressing the Group of Parliaments in Support of Palestine meeting, President Erdoğan said: "Defending the Palestinian cause is not only about defending an oppressed people. Defending Palestine means defending humanity, peace and justice as well. The Palestinian cause is a fight for honor by a people subjected to all forms of oppression, barbarism and massacres for nearly a century."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the meeting of the Group of Parliaments in Support of Palestine in Istanbul.
"ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IS MASSACRING OUR PALESTINIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN A STATE OF COMPLETE MADNESS"
President Erdoğan said: "Defending the Palestinian cause is not only about defending an oppressed people. Defending Palestine means defending humanity, peace and justice as well. The Palestinian cause is a fight for honor by a people subjected to all forms of oppression, barbarism and massacres for nearly a century. Besides all this, the Palestinian cause, in essence, is a struggle to become a human and to remain a human. It is a cause that belongs not only to Muslims but to every person with a conscience. This cause, without doubt, is a matter of conscience beyond being a matter of politics."
President Erdoğan stated: "Since October 2023, our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Palestine have been enduring one of the gravest banditries of the last century. The Israeli government is massacring our Palestinian brothers and sisters in a state of complete madness, with utter indifference towards children, women, babies, or the elderly. Children and women constitute the majority of the nearly 60 thousand Palestinians brutally killed by Israel. More than 7 percent of the population have either been murdered or maimed. 212 journalists, working to tell the world about the facts on the ground, have been executed. The day before yesterday, they martyred a female journalist along with 10 others from her family. Hundreds of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals have become a target to bullets, with humanitarian aid workers murdered. Babies have died in broad daylight due to lack of access to water, medicine and food."
"INTERNATIONAL LAW HAS BECOME A TOOL TO CEMENT THE POWER OF THE POWERFUL INSTEAD OF SERVING JUSTICE"
"What is more alarming is that all of these oppressions and barbarities have been unfolding for exactly 18 months right before the eyes of the whole humanity, including the so-called civilized world," President Erdoğan stressed. "Journalists are being killed and international media outlets are just watching. Children are being killed and human rights advocates are just watching. Healthcare professionals are being murdered and the West is just watching. Institutions like the UNRWA are being targeted for shutdown and the United Nations is just watching the process. Those who have been preaching freedom, rights, law, and press freedom for years have been continuing to play ostrich for 18 months in the face of Israel's policy of massacre."
President Erdoğan went on: "A global order that fails to stand by the oppressed is destined to become a mere instrument of the tyrants. Today's world has become a captive to an order that keeps silent in the face of the oppressor and applauds the oppression. The international law has become a tool to cement the power of the powerful instead of serving justice. The rule of law has been replaced by an order of law tailored for certain persons and states. Many institutions and organizations, from the United Nations to the European Union, have failed the test in Gaza, acting in violation of the very principles they promote."
"IT IS HIGH TIME FOR A NATION WHO THEMSELVES EXPERIENCED HOLOCAUST 75 YEARS AGO TO SPEAK UP AND STAND AGAINST THE GENOCIDE"
"Those who remain silent while Palestinians are being killed have been trying to normalize the genocide by labelling the resistance waged by the people of Gaza against occupation as terrorism. Once again, I would like to make it clear that we as Türkiye reject these slanders and this black propaganda. The Palestinian people have been putting up a struggle of liberation against occupation forces," President Erdoğan pointed out.
"I call on not only the individuals with a conscience, but also the Israeli people to take action against the disaster their government is dragging them into," the President underlined. "I believe that it is high time for a nation who themselves experienced Holocaust 75 years ago to speak up and stand against the massacres, genocide, atrocities and murders being committed in Gaza and other Palestinian territories, and to say 'stop' to their administrators."
"WE MAINTAIN OUR HUMANITARIAN AID FOR OUR PALESTINIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS WITHOUT ANY BREAK"
President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: "Türkiye has been one of the countries that have raised the strongest objection to the genocide and that have taken concrete steps against Israel. We have thankfully performed well on this issue. Along with our state's official bodies, our NGOs, charities, and our business community have mobilized for Palestine and Gaza. Halting trade with Israel, we have taken a brave step in this regard. We maintain our humanitarian aid for our Palestinian brothers and sisters without any break. We have delivered over 101 thousand tons of humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza, with the support of the brotherly countries in the region. I hereby offer my gratitude to them. We will continue to extend our helping hand to Gaza in the future as well. Israel, on the other hand, is once again showing its ugly face by blocking aid to Gaza since March 2. The Israeli government is now resorting to hunger, thirst, and lack of medication in an attempt to destroy the innocent people whom it couldn't kill through bombing."
"Do not forget that every crime that goes unpunished further emboldens the perpetrator. In this regard, we attach great importance to the case filed with the International Court of Justice against Israel. We have made an application to intervene in the case for Israel to be held accountable to justice. Our NGOs continue to provide the court with files and evidence. Sooner or later, we will inshallah see Netanyahu and its murderous gang being tried at international courts," President Erdoğan stated.
"WE WILL TIRELESSLY MAINTAIN OUR EFFORTS UNTIL AN INDEPENDENT AND SOVEREIGN STATE OF PALESTINE IS ESTABLISHED"
"Israel's aggressions and disregard for law is not limited to Palestine," President Erdoğan underscored. "Attacks on Syria and Lebanon show that the Netanyahu government doesn't want peace in the Middle East. It is working to prevent Syria and Lebanon from achieving stability by fueling ethnic and sectarian divisions. It is seeking to spread the conflicts to the broader region by constantly provoking extra-regional actors. Colluding with terrorist organizations, it is playing a very dangerous game. In other words, it is acting like a rogue organization, not like a legitimate state. We think this is not sustainable. Israel cannot safeguard its own security by destabilizing its neighbors."
President Erdoğan added: "At this stage, our priorities are establishing lasting ceasefire immediately, delivering uninterrupted humanitarian aid to our Gazan brothers and sisters, and ensuring that occupation forces fully withdraw from Gaza. In this framework, I hope that the ceasefire negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt are finalized as soon as possible. It is of critical importance to launch the reconstruction efforts without delay following the establishment of ceasefire. The support of all the brotherly countries represented here for the plan prepared under Egypt's leadership is crucial. I would like to take this opportunity to re-emphasize that we will tirelessly maintain our efforts until an independent, sovereign and territorially-united state of Palestine, with al-Quds its capital, is established based on the 1976 borders. No matter how it's packaged, any proposal that seeks to expel Palestinians from the land they have lived on for thousands of years holds no value for us. Do not forget that Gaza belongs to the people of Gaza, Palestine to the people of Palestine."
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