Erdoğan reaffirms continued support for Palestine
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated Türkiye's steadfast support for Palestine, vowing to remain a vocal advocate for the Palestinian cause.
"Even if I am left alone as Tayyip Erdoğan, I will continue to defend the Palestinian struggle and be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people as long as God gives me life," he said during a parliamentary meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on April 17.
Erdoğan labeled Israel as a "terrorist state," accusing it of perpetrating inhumane acts amounting to genocide since Hamas' onslaught on Oct. 7 last year.
"Israel, with the unconditional support it receives from the West, is carrying out a massacre that has already been written in the history of humanity with shame, in a state of great impudence, great recklessness," the president said.
In response to criticism leveled against him and his government regarding the Palestine issue, Erdoğan expressed regret over what he described as "accusations" and "vile slanders," without specifying further.
"I regret to say that we have seen that these accusations, these vile slanders have been reciprocated in some circles and even used against us," he said. "Some people have put us, our party, our government and the state of the Turkish Republic under suspicion based on allegations they know to be false."
The president's remarks appeared to be directed at detractors who have questioned Türkiye's trade relations with Israel.
Last week, Ankara announced plans to impose trade restrictions on Israel, effective April 9, in response to the conflict in Gaza. The trade restrictions cover various products, including cement, steel and iron construction materials. The decision followed domestic protests urging the government to sever trade ties with Israel sooner.
Turkish police detained a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters who took to Istanbul's central Taksim Square on April 6 to urge the government to cut trade ties. An investigation had been opened into the heavy-handed police response to the protest, and two police officers were suspended from duty.
"No one has the caliber or capacity to question either myself or this blessed cadre on the Palestinian issue," Erdoğan said in his speech.
"Our life has been spent with the Palestinian struggle; our life has found meaning with the Palestinian cause. We did not learn the place of Palestine, the oppression in Gaza, the occupation and massacre against our Palestinian brothers on Oct. 7."
Erdoğan reiterated his stance that he does not regard Hamas as a terrorist organization.
"Hamas is exactly what the Kuva-yi Milliye was in Türkiye during the War of Independence," he said. "Certainly, we are aware that saying this comes at a price. We know that it is difficult to shout the truth and what's right in such a period.”
The Kuva-yi Milliye, or National Forces, mentioned in Erdoğan's remarks, historically served as an irregular Turkish militia during the early stages of the Turkish War of Independence before integration into the regular army.
"I wholeheartedly greet Gaza, all of Palestine and the glorious independence resistance of Palestine," Erdoğan added. "I remember with mercy the heroic sons of Palestine who have been martyred since Oct. 7."
