The spokesperson for Türkiye's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Monday decried a slew of what he called "attacks" on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's support for Palestine amid relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
"These attacks on Erdoğan's stance on Palestine are unjust, unfounded and unlawful," Ömer Çelik said on X, likely referring to the criticism the Turkish president has been receiving over his support of Hamas.
Erdoğan has been one of the most virulent critics of Israel since the start of the war on Gaza, which began after Israel harshly retaliated to an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas in Israel that claimed at least 1,160 lives, according to Israel. He has expressed full support for Hamas and rejected the Western stance of classifying it as a terrorist organization.
Erdoğan has called Israel a "terrorist state" and accused it of conducting a "genocide" in Gaza.
He and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu also traded barbs after the Turkish leader compared him to Nazis for the war crimes Israel is committing against Palestinians.
Netanyahu responded that he would "not be lectured" by Erdoğan, whom he accused of "using pressure in his own country against Kurds and critics."
Israeli officials have used alarmingly plain genocidal rhetoric regarding Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7, with Netanyahu himself saying early on during the conflict via X that Israel's current war on Gaza was a "struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle," a language similar to Nazis' justification of the Holocaust.
Çelik pointed out Erdoğan's "outstanding diplomatic efforts to stop the Israeli aggression" and emphasized his "clear stance and sensitivity" on the Palestinian cause.
"Erdoğan has been the only leader who has expressed his opposition to the labeling of Palestinians as terrorists before the eyes of all world leaders," he said, adding that the president has been "targeted by the network of massacre and prominent members of Netanyahu's government for his fundamental support of Palestine."
"Even when he was politically banned, Erdoğan responded to questions about Hamas with the same answer he does today," Çelik added.
Turkish-Israeli relations have historically been rocky due to disputes over the Palestinian cause. The pair was in the process of normalizing their relations when a new round of conflict broke out. Ankara shelved normalization plans and vowed to pursue the rights of Palestinians after Oct. 7.
At least 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 75,000 injured due to Israel's attacks amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities in Gaza.
The Israeli army has also imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving most of the population, particularly residents of the north, on the verge of starvation.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which, in an interim ruling in January, ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
