President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday condemned the inhumane conditions in Gaza, critizing Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for blocking humanitarian assistance to the devastated Palestinian enclave and saying Ankara’s efforts to deliver aid through international channels have been rejected.
Speaking at the 12th Necip Fazıl Awards ceremony held at the Atatürk Cultural Center in Istanbul, Erdoğan said Türkiye has sought to send container housing to Gaza by engaging the United Nations and Western actors, but faced refusal from Israel.
“We say, ‘Let us send containers.’ We activate the United Nations, we activate the West. But Netanyahu, whom I call a pharaoh, has no interest in such matters and does not accept it,” Erdoğan said.
Addressing the humanitarian toll of Israel’s attacks, Erdoğan offered prayers for more than 71,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza and expressed solidarity with civilians struggling to survive under harsh winter conditions with limited resources.
“We watch on screens the situation of children and mothers, from age seven to 70, living in tents amid cold, rain and mud,” he said, adding that the Palestinian people continue to uphold a spirit of resistance and resilience despite the circumstances.
Erdoğan also cited a Quranic verse, saying, “There is an account over every account,” adding that justice would ultimately prevail.
