Erdogan: Gaza has turned into massacres, not self-defence

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday that what we are witnessing in Gaza goes beyond self-defence, it is “injustice, barbarism and massacres”.

He added, in statements reported by Al Jazeera, that “innocent women and children are the majority of the victims, and we cannot remain silent about what we see,” noting that “what is happening in Gaza goes beyond self-defence and has turned into injustice, barbarism and massacres.”

The Turkish President stressed that “all Western countries supported the Israeli attack without restriction instead of advising them to remain calm, so where are human rights?”

“They are sending aircraft carriers instead of aid ships, and this is a double standard and a two-faced policy.”

“Whoever is silent about the truth is a dumb devil, and we will not hesitate to speak the truth even if we remain alone,” he continued, asking: “How many children must be killed until a ceasefire is agreed upon?”

In the past 20 days the Israeli occupation army has continued to target Gaza with intense air strikes that have killed 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 children, 1,709 women, and 397 elderly people, and injured 18,484 people, in addition to more than 1,650 people missing under the rubble. An unprecedented humanitarian disaster has unfolded as a result of the cut-off of supplies like electricity, water, fuel and treatment in the Gaza Strip.

Previously, the Turkish president admired Hamas as a “liberation and Mujahideen group”.
“Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, but a liberation group, a mujahideen group that struggles to protect its lands and citizens,” the Turkish president told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party.

Erdoğan also slammed Western powers for supporting Israel’s bombing of Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire, the unhindered entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and for Muslim countries to work together to stop the violence.
Source: MEM