ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, which he said amounted to genocide, and urged the international community to work for a humanitarian ceasefire in the region.
Turkey supports Palestinians, backs a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, and hosts members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. It has offered to mediate in the conflict and has sent humanitarian aid for Gaza that is stuck in Egypt as borders are closed.
While initially condemning civilian deaths and calling for restraint as it sought to repair ties with Israel after years of animosity, Ankara has toughened its stance against Israel as the fighting and humanitarian crisis in Gaza has intensified.
“I repeat my call for the Israeli leadership to never expand the scope of its attacks on civilians and to immediately end its operations amounting to genocide,” Erdogan said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He added Israel was provoking non-regional actors instead of turning back from its mistakes in Gaza, and said that the region needed saving from the “frenzy of madness” supported by Western powers and media. Erdogan also said Ankara was working to end the fighting before it reached “a point of no return”.
“It is clear that security cannot be achieved by massacring children, women, civilians; by bombing hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches,” Erdogan said. “Cruelty does not bring prosperity.”
Turkish protesters staged anti-Israel demonstrations across the country this week after a blast that killed large numbers of Palestinians at a Gaza hospital. Israeli diplomats, including its ambassador, have left Turkey after Israel issued a security warning.
Ankara has also been engaged in talks with Hamas to secure the release of civilians the group has taken prisoner. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was cited as saying this week that despite efforts, there was “nothing concrete” yet on the matter.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Jonathan Oatis)
